Surprises: The 68th Annual Hunger Games
by pochapal
Summary: For 68 years the Capitol has held the Hunger Games to keep the rebellious Districts in check. This year will be full of surprises and shocking twists that nobody could have anticipated. So watch as the 24 tributes battle it out until one remains in an arena guaranteed to surprise the entire nation of Panem.
1. This Year's Batch

_**Head Gamemaker Dew, President's rose garden, the Capitol**_

I walk out of my office, clutching the finalised documents for the arena. I've spent every day since the victory tour perfecting the stage for this year's games.

The elevator stops, and I walk out into the president's rose garden. The seemingly endless garden is in full bloom; pure white roses as far as the eye can see. I find president Snow in the centre of the garden, observing the plants.

"Head Gamemaker Dew, I was expecting you yesterday," he addresses me, "You missed the reapings. I trust that your absence was due to a last minute adjustment to the arena," he gives me a cold look, the same one that he gave to the last head Gamemaker, Pyrus, when she allowed 2 tributes, twin careers from District 4, to win. The medical team executed the boy during recovery, blaming it on an allergic reaction to the medicine. Pyrus then became the avox for the tributes from 4 due to that.

"Yes, sir. I've added quite the surprise for the arena," his glare loses that deadly edge,

"This had better be good, you know how I hate unexpected developments." I hand him the documents. He scans the papers for a few minutes, then hands them back.

"Excellent. This'll up the entertainment factor for sure this year," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper, "I've made a copy of the tribute list for you. It wouldn't be good to throw a surprise, and not know who's on the receiving end, would it?" I take the piece of paper, and see the names of the tributes, along with an image of their face.

"What an interesting batch this year," I look through the list once more, "It's as if fate hand picked the perfect tributes for these games."

"Indeed," The president gets off the bench, places a white rose in his suit, and walks to the elevator.

"I have to prepare for the chariot parade speech tomorrow, so I'm leaving. And Dew, I've been impressed with your work these past few years. Don't let me down this year,"

"Of course not, sir."


	2. District 1: Continuing the Legacy

**A/N: Here's the first set of reapings! And a nice little fact, already this story's nearly at 5000 words! Hope you enjoy meeting the tributes!**

**This was a fun chapter to write. I absolutely LOVE Ebony, he's like the best thingasdfghjsdfg, and Emerald didn't come with a story, but I enjoyed creating one!**

**Ebony Amaranth, 18, District 1**

I swiftly dodge Topaz's knife as it flies towards me, before thrusting my spear at her. If it weren't for her body armour, she'd be dead. I wipe the sweat off my brow, and place the weapons back. I'm ready. Tomorrow begins my transformation from victor's kid to victor. It's well known that the Amaranth family has a reputation of victors. My parents won 44th and the 48th games, respectively, and my older brother, Cris, won his games six years ago. And now it's my turn to carry on the tradition. I've managed to win the spot of the District 1 male representative, so I'll be volunteering tomorrow.

"Hey, Eb. You there?" Topaz waves her hand in front of my face. She's my training partner; we were assigned together since we share a birthday, "You kinda spaced out," see, that's my one flaw. I become so absorbed in my thoughts, I'm oblivious to the world. "Anyway, I have to head home now. See you tomorrow," Topaz waks into the girls' shower room. I decide to do some more solo training. I practice tossing knives at the dummies. I hit each one right in the heart. I think about who'll be joining me in the Games tomorrow. I know Topaz was knocked out of the tournament to be the representative by a girl called Glitter or something from the northern part of the district. But I didn't pay attention to the tournament after Topaz's elimination. I do another run of the assault course, flawlessly passing through, and head to the shower room.

After showering and changing into a simple T shirt and shorts, I head out the door of the training centre. The sun's setting, and there's a pleasant summer breeze. It's days like this I wish that our district was next to the ocean, it's perfect weather for a relaxing swim. But I live in District 1, not 4. And besides, we have the best training facilities out of the Career districts. I walk down the road, passing through the central plaza. Everyone's busy setting up for the Games. I see Gleam, a victor who used to train in the same centre as me, helping set up the reaping stage. I just hope this year our escort actually looks decent, not like a rainbow just vomited its major organs all over her.

I pass through the square, and walk up the cobble paved road that leads to the victor's village. I reach the front gate to the village.

"Hey Ebony," It's the local Peacekeeper, Grayson. Apparently, his neice back in 2 won the place of the female tribute. He flashes me a smile, and opens the gate, "See you at the reaping,"

"You too," I reply. I hope he'll be alright with me winning the Games and not his neice. I turn the corner, and step into my front lawn. I look at the way the flowerbed's are arranged. Of course, mom's set up a bunch of traps. It's her specialty. She won the 44th Hunger Games at 13 by killing ten of the tributes with her traps, and when she mentored two years ago, she taught the tributes how to completely rig an entire area with them. It managed to completely take out the baby faced boy from 3. Too bad both tributes were taken out by the girl from 3, Sparkle or something. I reach into the bush, and pull three knives out of it. I use them to cut the tripwires blocking my path. I open the door, and I'm met by the aroma of dinner.

After dad became a victor, it turned out he had a knack for cooking. I close the door, and place my shoes in the front hall. I'm suddenly aware of another presense, and duck just as Cris throws himself at me. He ends up smacking into the wall, his long brown hair flying everywhere.

"Too slow bro," I say, barely stifling a laugh, "I'm surprised you actually won the Games, given those appauling reflexes,"

"Dude, I'm just rusty is all," he rebuttles, gathering himself before heading to the dining room.

"And ever heard of shaving?" I call after him. He's trying to grow facial hair, but it's too fine and gathered in clumps to actually have anything done to it besides removing it. I walk into the dining room, and join my family for dinner.

"I see you made it home alive then," My mother says, smiling her trademark cocky grin,

"Hey, you shouldn't have done that the evening before the reaping. If I set a trap off, I'd be handicapped,"

"Listen. In the arena, even familiar territory can turn into a deathtrap at any given moment," she lectures, but stops when dad brings in dinner. A succulent roast chicken, with potatoes and vegetables, laced with gravy. I happily munch away at the delicious meal. The added herbs really bring out the flavour.

"So, any clue who my partner in crime's gonna be?" I ask between mouthfuls of food.

"Word at the bar is it's gonna either be Sapphire from Gleam's training class, or this Emerald girl from the private training centre," Dad replies, pouring us glasses of water. So now I know my potential competition. I've seen Sapphire train. She's only 16, but she took down massive Glitz without breaking a sweat. But I know nothing about this Emerald girl. I wonder if she beat that Glitter girl. I finish the last of my dinner, and head off to my room. Normally, I'd request a sparring session with dad, but I don't want to look too tired. I close the curtains, strip my shirt off, and climb into bed.

When I wake the next morning, it's still early. I shower, and head to my closet to pick my outfit for the reaping. I eventually decide on a pitch black button up shirt with a deep red tie, and some loose formal pants, that compliment my black hair and dark grey eyes. I hear a noise from downstairs. A crash, followed by a string of curses. Cris is up. That's right, he'll be mentoring me and the other tribute this year. I go downstairs, to find him in a formal suit, covered in a powdered herb. At least he shaved that ridiculous excuse for facial hair. I see the empty shaker.

"You know, covering yourself in your name's really not the best idea," I hold up the vial that's labelled POWDERED AMARANTH HERB FLOUR, "Dad's gonna flip when he sees this mess."

"I was just trying to make some breakfast when the herbs decided to attack me," he grunts, trying to wipe the mess off his suit.

"Some mentor you'll be. You barely survived a deadly onslaught by dad's cooking ingredients," I begin to laugh. At least he's not like that crazy drunk from District 12, but he's a close contender for most laughable mentor. Sill smiling, I place the bread in the toaster.

"Let's just stick to toast. At least you won't get covered in it," I tease as I hand him a slice, "And clean up before dad sees this mess," he goes to punch me, but I stop his fist dead in its tracks.

It's only ten, so I have a few hours to kill. I walk into the living room, and find a DVD laying about. It's a copy of Cris' Games. I'm in the mood for a good laugh, so I put it on. His reaping's priceless; he volunteers as the escort calls _his_ name out. He then nearly falls off stage as he shakes hands with his district partner. He misses stepping on the chariot in the parade, and ends up running along the street chasing his chariot, the jewels from his costume falling behind him as he runs. I can barely contain my laughter. Even the announcer's trying to stifle a laugh. His interview costume's a mess; he put his shoes on the wrong feet, and the entire interview consists of Caesar howling with laughter. Mom says this was his strategy all along, but anyone who knows him knows that this is him trying to be professional. I hear someone come down the stairs. It's mom and dad. They walk in, already dressed in their formal outfits. I see mom trying to contain a laugh. The bloodbath's starting, her favourite part. Cris nearly falls off his platform as it rises, and when the gong sounds, he's tripped by a twelve year old from District 12 of all places. Realising how much of a hinderance he'll be to their alliance, the boy from 2 tries to kill him, but Cris ends up tumbling down a slope into the river below, screaming more than the girl from 8 did.

He sets up a snare trap, and gets caught in it, trapped until the forest fire burns it off. He then takes refuge in a cave, eating the jelly sweets he got as a sponsor gift. Meanwhile, the rest of the Career pack's been savaged by massive snake muttations, all but the girl from 4 dying. He eventually leaves his cave, and ends up barely avoiding a landslide that kills the pair from 3 and the boy from 5, leaving just him and the girl from 4.

They meet at the Cornucopia. She's got all the weapons, whilst he's got nothing but the singed clothes on his back. She throws a trident at him, and he trips on a rock whilst running, avoiding his death. She chases him along the cliffside, and another landslide begins. Cris' uneven footing saves him as he falls into a small hole, whilst she's swept away to her death.

"And that is a perfect example of the lucky idiot strategy, excellently demonstrated by your brother," Mom says, turning the television off, "It's one; the reapings are in an hour," I walk to the front hall and grab my shoes. I'm pumped for the Games now. I open the door, it's another beautiful day. The streets are decorated with banners and ribbons, and already people are beginning to party. I walk down the road, out of the village, to Topaz's house. She opens the door to greet me, and I must say, she looks beautiful. Her blue dress matches her eyes perfectly, and I can't help but stare.

"Come on Eb, you're acting like you've never seen me looking so fabulous. You saw it last year as well," she playfully punches my shoulder, and we make our way down to the central plaza. She joins the girls' queue, and I join the males'.

"Next," the woman says, and I hand her my finger. She pricks it, and takes the blood sample, "Ebony Amaranth, you may proceed,"

I join the 18 year old section as it fills up. Several guys come up to me. and congratulate me on making the cut this year. Our attention is redirected to the mayor, who introduces our escort. I groan as I see her get up this year. Not only has the rainbow thrown up on her, she's in a unicorn suit. I have to touch that hand, hoof, thing.

"Welcome to the 68th annual Hunger Games!" the crowd erupts in applause, "And may the odds be _ever _in your favour! Now before we choose our lucky young man and woman, we have a very special film for you, all the way from the Capitol!" she makes a weird sound, like a cross between a squeal and a giggle. The film begins to play, projected from behind us. It's about the history of Panem, and how the Hunger Games came to be. I let out a yawn. it's called history for a reason. After the mind numbing film ends, she skips to the first glass ball.

"Ladies first!" she dips her hand into the glass ball, and pulls out a slip. She reads the name, but I don't listen. This girl won't be going into the arena with me. As if on cue, this year's female representative volunteers, and she introduces herself as Emerald Glitters. _So dad was right_.

"And now, for the gents!" she reaches her hoof hand into the bowl, and calls out a name. _This is it._

"I volunteer as tribute for the 68th annual Hunger Games!" I announce, and stride to the stage. Everyone erupts in applause as I stand on the stage, waving to the crowd.

"My, my. Aren't you the most enthusiastic thing I've ever seen!" she motions to Emerald, and I stick my hand forward. This simple act sends the crowd into a frenzy as they chant our names. Rainbow unicorn over there herds us off the stage, and into the justice building for our goodbye hour.

The room's as fancy as home, but much more cramped, and I feel as if I'm being suffocated in velvet. After a few minutes, mom and dad come in.

"Now, we have a half hour. Here's some key advice. Don't fight the stylists, just let them dress you in their hideous outfits; the Capitol loves that. Now at the Cornucopia, head for the weapons and food and kill anything that moves. Be sure to be in the Career pack, but leave if things start turning nasty. Always keep a bag full of food and knives with you in case you have to ditch at any time. And most importantly, don't do anything stupid," she gives me a brisk hug before the Peacekeepers escort them out. I'm left alone for a moment before Topaz comes in. She wraps her arms around me.

"Why so emotional? I'm not gonna die, I was voted the _best_ for a reason," I say, but she doesn't let go.

"Just know that I," she pauses for a moment, "I want you to be careful. Don't take any chances. If it looks risky, don't risk it," she lets go of me. before pressing her lips to mine. My entire body goes weak, before being overcome with a deep lust for more. I kiss back, harder. After a few more moments, we break off.

"What was-" she places her finger on my lips.

"Come home," she walks out of the door. I'm left dazed. What was that? I didn't know she felt that way about me. I now wonder if she deliberately lost to Emerald so she wouldn't have to face entering an arena where only one comes out with me. The door opens, and for a moment I hope it's Topaz, but it's just the Peacekeeper telling me the train's ready. I walk out and see Emerald, her grey eyes fixated on something in the distance. We're brought to a car, where our eyesore of an escort waits.

"You are just going to _love_ the Capitol! If you think your district is grand, wait until you see the Capitol! Solid gold buildings, the finest food, infinite outfits at your disposal," she drones on about every last sparkly detail of the Capitol, and I block her out, looking as the town grows distant.

We finally arrive at the train station, and camera crews swarm us. I flash smiles whilst a burly Peacekeeper clears a path for us. As I step on the train, one thought enters my head.

_The Capitol, here I come!_

**Emerald Glitters, 18, District 1**

I check the clock. Midnight. Perfect. I peer out of my window. The guard's dozed off. I slip my shoes on, and creep out of my room. At this time of night, everyone in the training academy's asleep. I reach the end of the hall, at the top of the stairs. They're too creaky. Instead, I grab the banister, and vault over. I land the fall on my feet, making virtually no sound. I climb out of the window, and land outside the back of the academy. I slink past the training equipment, trying to not set the alarm off. Success. I climb over the fence, and land in the field. He should be here tonight.

"Amber," I call softly, "Amber, come out. I brought a snack," a small white fluffy head emerges from the bushes. I hold out the bag of vegetables from dinner, and pour the contents onto the grass. Cautiously, he investigates it before happily munching away.

"I'm gonna be in the Hunger Games," I say to him. I know he won't respond, but it's good to pour your heart out to _something_, "I may not come back." he finishes the last of the vegetables, then curls up, concealed by my long dark hair. I begin to lightly stroke him. I was selected to be this year's female tribute for the Games. It makes sense, since I've been in training all my life.

When I was still a baby, my parents abandoned me on the doorstep of the Career training academy, and the head trainer, Quartz, found me there, in a basket, rain pouring down. I nearly died of hypothermia. Since she was clueless as to what to do with me, Quartz took me in as her personal protégé. However, since the minimum age for training is ten, I was left to my own devices pretty much. That was how I discovered this little field. I spent every day there, feeding the little animals leftovers from dinner. Of course, Quartz knew I was sneaking off, and had to keep me indoors for most of the day. This was when I developed an interest in the Hunger Games. I used to watch the tribute tournament that decides the male and female for that year's Games. Usually, our academy doesn't end up sending a tribute most years, but when they do, it's common knowledge that a tribute from the private academy always ends up becoming a victor. This is due to the advantage District 1 has over the other powerhouse district, 2. They're all muscle, whilst we're trained in both brains and brawn. But I don't think I'm going to be instanty recognised as a victor, since in the semifinals of the tournament, my opponent allowed me to win.

The whole match she was overpowering me, and almost getting the winning strike, until the crowd began to discuss the male tribute, the only member of that familiy that isn't a victor. I guess that puts us in the same spot; we're both continuing the legacies, a family that consists of victors, and an academy that always submits a victor. So after this information was announced, she just gave up, and let me dominate her. I'm guessing that she had a connection to the boy, probably her training partner. That's why the academy assigns same sex partners, so you'll never have to face them in the arena. Another reason why we're victor material; we won't ever worry about having any attatchment to our district partner. This weakness has actually managed to destroy our chances of winning in a few Games; one gets mortally wounded, the other stays with them until they die, then they're killed by a weaker tribute. That happened last year, the girl held the boy until he died, and she was wiped out by that boy from 2 who'd gone off the deep end. He won.

I see the sun beginning to poke out from the horizon.

"I gotta go Amber, I'll see you soon," I stand up, and the bunny scampers into the bush again. I sneak back over the fence, through the empty assault course, and back through the window. I silently move to the staircase, and climb the banister back upstairs. I creep along the hall, and back into my room. I check the clock, 5:30. I still have a couple of hours before I have to wake up. I slide under the covers, trying to get an extra couple of hours of sleep. It feels like I've just blinked when Quartz walks in.

"Emerald, it's nine. We're gonna be late for the reapings, and some other girl's gonna take your spot as tribute," she's right. No one's going to be volunteering besides me and that other guy. His last name's a type of cooking ingredient or something. I crawl out of bed, and get ready for the reaping. I choose an emerald green dress, which shimmers when caught in the sun. I do my hair in an elegant braid, and I apply some makeup; some eyeliner and a hint of blusher. This is the most beautiful I've ever looked for a reaping. I go downstairs, to the dining hall. Almost everyone cheers as I enter; it's been ten years since the academy's submitted a tribute. I quickly eat my breakfast, trying to avoid the incessant congratulations. _You won't be cheering if I die in the Games, will you?_

I leave the table, and head out into the garden. I think about how I'll play the Games. I'll definitely be in the Career pack, and I'll survive off the food found in the Cornucopia. I can't hunt though; it fills me with a deep guilt, like I've slaughtered a baby. The animals won't be trying to kill us, so I see no reason to kill them. I really have problems with killing weak and defenseless things, I hope we don't have any kids this year. I don't have it in me. But the rest of the world doesn't know that. Hopefully I create enough of an impression to scare the younger ones away from me. Someone approaches. It's my training partner, Glisten.

"Em, we're going to the reaping," she says, smoothing her white dress. I follow her out of the front gate, and we begin to walk to the central plaza.

I'd forgotten how beautiful District 1 is. Everything's so well kept, and the streets are full of celebratory decorations. I see one household release 68 balloons into the sky. The festive spirit is overwhelming. I remember watching the reapings from the other districts. District 2 also throws festivities, but the poorer families tend not to, since they don't have a confirmed system for volunteers. District 4, the other Career district, also celebrates, but they're the poorest Career district. In the other districts, there's a constant air of depression at the reapings. I don't understand why they don't train their kids like us, then maybe they wouldn't lose innocent children. We reach the back of the girls' queue, and we wait to be signed in. I see people laughing and cheering. In just under an hour, they'll be cheering my name. This puts a grin on my face.

"Next," the woman at the desk says, and I hand her my finger. She pricks it, and lets me through. I wait for Glisten to be signed in, and she joins me in the 18 year old section. After about half an hour of signing in, the mayor steps on stage, and introduces our escort. Everyone collectively groans at her newest design. She looks like she was dunked head first into a rainbow wearing a horse outfit. It's rather horrifying.

"Welcome to the 68th annual Hunger Games!" she does a little twirl, "And may the odds be _ever_ in your favour! Now before we meet our lucky representatives, we have a very special film for you from the Capitol!" _Great, two hours of history_. the film begins. It's essentially President Snow talking over footage from the history of Panem. Finally, the film ends, and the milticoloured fashion disaster skips over to the girls' reaping ball.

"Ladies first!" she calls out the girl's name, but she doesn't surface. I make my way to the clearing between the two groups and call out.

"I volunteer as tribute for the 68th annual Hunger Games!" the crowd expodes with applause as I mount the stage.

"What's your name, dear?" The escort asks.

"Emerald Glitters," I reply, and the crowd starts cheering. I let out a sly grin.

"Well, let's save some excitement for the boys, shall we?" she bounces over to the males', and calls his name out. Instantly, a volunteer steps up, a tall, lean boy with dark hair and pitch black eyes. He announces his name, Ebony Amaranth, and the crowd chants our names as we're taken to the justice building.

The room is like a plushy version of my bedroom, but with a sofa instead of a bed. I look at myself in the mirror. I'm still smiling. The door opens, and Glisten comes in, and hugs me.

"Congratulations, Em! You did it,"

"Thanks," I reply with equal enthusiasm.

"Oh, that reminds me!" she reaches into her pocket and pulls something out, "I thought you might like a district token," she holds out a small box for me. I take it, and open it. Inside is a ring, with an emerald encrusted into it.

"It's beautiful," I say, and slip it on, "See you when I get back,"

"Yeah," she hugs me again, and leaves. I look at the ring. It's the nicest gift I've ever received. The door opens again, and a burly Peacekeeper walks in.

"The train's ready," I get up, and follow him out. I begin to think about my plans as I'm taken to the car. _Join the Careers, avoid hunting, stay alive._

Our escort pulls me into the car, and begins blabbing on about how marvellous the Capitol is. I ignore her rambling, and look forward as the train station comes into view. Once we arrive, we step out of the car, and cameras flash everywhere. The same Peacekeeper from the justice building clears a path for us, and I climb onto the platform, looking at the shimmering train. It's huge, and no doubt luxurious. I can't wait to get to the Capitol.


	3. District 2: An Impossible Situation

**Nicholas Darwick, 18, District 2**

The sun begins to dip below the horizon, dying the sky a brilliant orange. I look away from the window, and back at my hostage. He's the one that's supposed to go into the Hunger Games tomorrow. Too bad he's gonna have an unfortunate _accident_.

He squirms, his arms bound by the rope. His eyes begin to water and he whimpers. How pathetic. He wouldn't last two minutes in the arena. I let out a laugh, and he screams, the sound muffled by the tape on his mouth. I move over to the other side of the room. and pick up the sword. Gotta make it quick, I don't want to be caught. I bring the sword to his throwing arm, and in one swift motion, I strike, leaving the limb hanging by a thread. He cries out, squirming more. I sigh. He's just making a bigger mess. He begins to grow weak, possibly from the blood loss.

"Looks like the games have begun early this year?" I say, and he begins to grow pale. Finally, his eyes shut as he's lured into unconsciousness, "Boom," I say, imitating the cannon that signifies the death of a tribute. I laugh again, and throw the sword to the floor.

I climb the stairs of the training centre, shutting the basement door behind me. I go to the bathroom, and wash the blood off my hands. He should think himself lucky that we're not really in the arena, or he'd be dead. Besides, he still has another year to volunteer, this is my last year of being eligible, and I don't want anyone taking this opportunity away from me.

I walk out of the training centre, and I'm instantly met by the summer air. There's currently a heatwave, but the arena could be a frozen tundra, so I've been spending the last few days training in multiple layers of clothing. I'm definitely more prepared than that guy. I walk down the road, into the shadow cast by the giant mountain that towers over our district, the Nut. It really does look like a nut, right down to the round shape. It's much cooler in the shade, so I zip my jacket up. If there's one thing I hate, that's being in the cold and not being fully covered up. I continue walking through the shadowy streets. I wonder if this place ever receives sunlight. Judging by the lack of greenery, probably not. I see people setting up colourful decorations that contrast with the grey hue given off by the district. Practically every building is grey. Sometimes I think a splash of colour may improve the place.

The sun's nearly completely vanished when I leave the gloomy shadow of the Nut. I continue walking through the streets until I see the victor's village in the distance. Our house is on the street just before the entrance. I walk through the front door, and a pair of arms are wrapped around me. It's my girlfriend, Mae.

"Hey Nicky," she plants a kiss on my cheek,"So, you gonna still try for the Games tomorrow?"

"You know it," I reply, returning a kiss. We met about three years ago during the victory tour. Our district had produced another victor, and a district-wide party was thrown. Late into the evening, we were introduced to one another by our heavily intoxicated fathers, who both work at the same blacksmith. Turns out we made each other click perfectly. She transferred to my training centre, and not a day went by without one of us seeing the other. She nearly had a heart attack when I was the one reaped two years ago, but the battle for volunteers ensured that I wouldn't be going into the Games yet. Now I'll be the one saving some poor soul from his death.

"Nicky, did you make sure that your competition's in no fit state to compete?" Mae asks, batting her big seductive eyes,

"I did," I reply. She's normally the one I share my thoughts with, since both my parents work from four in the morning until midnight every day. I don't really have a connection with them, since I see so little of them.

"Nicky, have you ever wondered what it's like to be a victor?" Mae asks me, "I mean, no work, never worrying about food, rich beyond your wildest dreams," that's right, once you become a victor, you don't have to worry about anything.

"Hey Mae, you have any idea about who's gonna be the girl this year?" It'd be best to know at least something about the person that also has the honour of competing with me.

"From what I've heard, it's a 17 year old with daddy issues," she chuckles slightly, "How funny. But there has to be something special about her," she's right; this girl must have some crazy talent, else she wouldn't be my partner in this Game. I glance at the clock. It's nearly midnight.

"Well, I have to get going. See you at the reapings Nick," she kisses me one last time before walking out of the door.

I'm just about to climb up the stairs to go to bed when the door opens again. It's my parents.

"Hey," I say to them, but they really don't seem to be in the mood to talk. I wouldn't be either if I worked all day. They hang their coats up and walk past me up the stairs. Seeing them this tired reminds me why I'm competing in the Hunger Games, to give them a lifelong break from work. I follow them up the stairs, and turn into my room. I lay on the bed, and fall asleep instantly.

I'm on a metal plate. I look up, and see other people also on plates. And in the middle of us, the Cornucopia. It doesn't matter how I got here, but I'm now in the Hunger Games. The gong rings out, and I run to the golden mouth. It's full of swords. I look closer, and see they're covered in blood. Still, a weapon's a weapon. I lift it up, turn around, and come face to face with the one person that I thought I'd never see in the Games. It's him, the person who should be the representative tomorrow. His right arm's gone, and in its place is a sword the length of an arm. He brings it down onto my head, and laughs. Pain courses through my body as I fall to the floor.

"_Boom,_"

I wake with a cold sweat. I check my head. No sign that a giant blade was brought down on it. I sigh, just a nightmare. I walk over to the bathroom, and take a shower. That was a horrifying dream. I'm still shaken by it. No, I've trained myself to be able to cause harm with no regret. But why does this bother me? _Probably still tired, is all..._

I dress in a formal suit, and comb my brown hair back. After all, I want to look my best for the reaping. I make my way downstairs, and see my parents sitting at the dining table, with breakfast already laid out. They look barely awake, and are probably grateful for having the day off. I eat my breakfast in silence, none of us saying a single word. After finishing breakfast, I check the time. It's already one, and it's quite a lengthy trek to the central plaza.

"I'll see you in town, I'm gonna leave now," I say, grabbing my shoes. I walk out the door, and I'm met by the sun, shining ferociously in my eyes. I shield my eyes as I walk down the street. I'm suddenly immensely grateful when the shadow of the Nut blocks out the sun.

The sun harshly beats down on the central plaza as I file in with the rest of the crowd. Sweat begins to moisten my forehead as we wait for the reaping to begin. I notice Mae as she joins her age group. We flash each other a smile, and our escort steps onto the stage, with his purple explosion of a hairdo. He grabs the microphone with his golden taloned hands, and welcomes us to the 68th annual Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever_ in our favour. He giggles as he plays the same film we see every year; the president droning on about how the districts brought the Hunger Games on by rebelling against the loving Capitol. The film ends, and the good part finally gets underway; introducing the tributes.

"Ladies first!" He chuckles, sticking a taloned hand into the bowl. He reads the name out, and the representative volunteers on cue. She introduces herself as Ariella Grayson. She moves her dark hair out of her eyes, and looks at the cheering crowd. Our escort draws the boy's name, and I make a dash for the stage.  
"I volunteer as tribute for the 68th Hunger Games!" I yell, straining my voice.

"Oh excellent!" The escort does a strange little clap, "And what might your name be, young man?"

"Nicholas Darwick." I reply, and the crowd lets out a slight gasp at my unexpected volunteering, and begins chanting. _Ariella! Nicholas! Ariella! Nicholas! _I smile and wave at the crowd, becoming absorbed in the moment. I'm brought back to reality by the Peacekeepers moving us to the justice building, for the goodbye hour.

The room is about the size of my parents' room, only laced with rich fabric. I sit on the plush sofa, and my parents come in.

"Nick, you could have at least told us that you were this years representative." My mother says sternly. I don't want to tell her the truth, so I lie.

"It's just that I was so busy training, I forgot to tell you." I say, looking at them. My mother seems satisfied now, but my father's face is hard, with a cold expression.

"Just, don't do anything stupid that'll get yourself killed." He says, and they both hug me, then leave. I'm glad the goodbye wasn't emotional. The door opens yet again. This time it's Mae.

"Oh, Nicky! I'm so glad that you did it!" she plants a kiss on my cheek. "I'll be rooting for you the whole time! I've even started up a sponsor stand!"

"That's good. At least now I'll know where my life saving gifts'll come from." I say, before kissing her. We hold each other close, lost in the embrace for just a moment, before we break off, Mae leaving.

I think my goodbyes are over. That's why I'm surprised when the door opens again. I tense when I see who it is.

"Hey," The supposed representative says, sitting next to me, his arm bandaged up, "I just came to wish you luck. I mean, you don't know what you'll be up against. And before you ask, I'm not bothered with you taking my place. I still have another year to go to the games. So good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour." He gets up again, leaving me confused. Was that his way of forgiving me? Either way, it doesn't matter. I have more important matters right now.

A Peacekeeper comes in, and drags me out of my room. It must be time for the train to set off at the station. I'm brought outside, and into a car with Ariella and our escort. As soon as the door shuts, he lets out an endless stream of compliments about the Capitol. I'm just about ready to rip his tongue out when the flash of cameras indicates we've arrived at the train station. We step out, and the cameras are blinding. If this is the attention I get as a _tribute_, image what it'll be like when I'm a _victor._

**Ariella Grayson, 17, District 2**

The soft bleeping of the alarm stirs me. I shut it off before it grows too loud. I slip out of bed, making sure my every movement is silent. I can't wake _him._ I slip my shoes on, and open the door of my room ever so slightly. Instantly the repugnant stench of alcohol fills the air. I cover my mouth with my hand to desperately try to quell the stench. I cross the landing, and begin to stealthily descend the stairs. I stop when I see the sight at the bottom of the stairs. My father, unconscious and intoxicated beyond belief, laying in a pool of alcohol and various bodily fluids. I begin to gag at the repulsive scene, and make my way to the lowest possible step. He begins to snore so loudly that it drowns out what little noise I was making. I crouch down, and leap over the disgusting mess that partially conceived me, barely avoiding the pool of unholy liquids. I make my way to the front door. grab my jacket, and open the door.

The sun's beginning to crawl out from the horizon, illuminating most of the district with a soft glow. I swerve past the pile of empty bottles that adorn the exterior of our house, and creep down the street. At least my father didn't wake to see his scapegoat fleeing the residence. In no way could I be responsible for the fatal premature birth of my baby brother, killing both him and my mother, and my father on the inside. But he obviously needed something to take out his anger on, and his only living relative being the perfect target. Of course, when he started the daily beatings, I was too weak and helpless to do a thing. But he didn't count on the one thing that toughens every kid in Panem; the Hunger Games.

Being from District 2, one of the three Career districts, you'd never have to worry about having to go into the arena. The various training centres around the district always have a handful of eager volunteers ready to take your place. It used to be a free for all when it came to volunteering, but that changed after the first Quarter Quell; where the tributes were selected via public vote. After that, the training centres would hold a tournament to decide the top male and female for that year. They would then volunteer, and compete. At first, only District 2 did it, but 1 caught on after several years of our tributes making it right to the last moment, and theirs perishing in the bloodbath. I see the training centre just down the road now, bathed in the early morning light. I lighten my tread as I grow nearer, it's wrong to be trespassing. If I'm caught, my status as tribute will surely be revoked. I climb over the fence, barely avoiding the security device laying about. If I activated it, it'd set off an alarm that'd wake the whole of Panem. I dash across the courtyard, and through the window that never seems to close. The inside's pitch black, and eerily silent. I make my way, down the hall, and into the changing room. I open my locker, and pull out the clothes I stored there yesterday. My reaping outfit. It's a simple dark dress with matching shoes, but it's the most beautiful thing I own. My mother wore it during her reapings, and her wedding, despite wedding dresses being traditionally white.

I lay the outfit on the side, and step into the shower. My father destroyed the water pipe several years ago, so this place is the only place I can clean myself. I step out again, drying myself with one of the towels. I then slip the dress on, followed by the shoes. I place my old outfit in the locker, and lock it shut, never to be opened until I return as a victor. I put the wristband the key's attatched to around my wrist, and slink out of the building again. I walk down the street, and knock on the door of the house of the one person I trust. My training partner, Cleo. She opens the door, and the smell of breakfast instantly greets me.

"Good morning, Ariella. You ready for the reaping?" She says as we walk into her dining room.

"Yes, I'm ready. I'll be back before you know it." I say as she hands me a slice of toast. Butter's a rarity here, so most of the time we have to settle for the toast being dry. Either way, I heartily consume the food, grateful to have the meal inside of me. The next couple of hours are spent making idle conversation, until she asks me about the Hunger Games.

"So you're going to be in the Careeer group, right?" She asks, brushing her hair back.

"Yes. I'll first make sure my partner won't betray me, then move on to 1 and 4. Plus any exceptional outliers." I reply, fixing my own hair. I sound more confident than I feel. I'm honestly worried about the rest of the Careers betraying me, but that isn't likely. Not at least until we're the only ones left.

"Ari, it's time for the reaping." Cleo says, pointing to her clock. It's half one, the reaping's at two. We go downstairs, slip our shoes on, and step out. It's another bright, hot day, the sun shining harshly overhead. We walk down towards town, sticking to the shade as best we can. Eventually, we make it to the sign in queue. I wait for a moment before the attendant pricks my finger, and takes the blood sample, letting me through.

I stand in the seventeen year old section whilst Cleo moves over to the eighteen year old's section. As soon as we're in place, the event begins. Our escort, who now has talons on his hands, walks over to the podium, and grabs the microphone.

"Welcome to the sixty eighth annual _Hunger Games_! And, may the odds be _ever_ in your favour!" He almost breaks into a dance before calming himself. "And a special treat for you all; a film brought to you from the Capitol!" The projected film begins to play. It's old footage from the days of the rebellion, and President Snow talking about how the Hunger Games are a punishment, that we brought it on. After half an hour of this, the film ends, and the escort takes centre stage again.

"And now for the reaping!" He giggles as he shoves a hand into the first bowl. "Ladies first!"

A name. I don't know who, but I don't care. Instantly, I cry out.

"I volunteer as tribute for the 68th Hunger Games!" I walk on stage, the escort's face contorted in joy.

"How marvellous! And what's the name of our confident Career?"  
"Ariella Grayson," I reply, "And soon to be victor."  
"How wonderful! But let's see if our young man has anything to say about that!" He dips his hand into the other bowl, and calls the name. Again, another volunteer. He identifies himself as Nicholas Darwick. Not the coolest name, but with that stance, you would only need to glimpse at him to be cowering in fear. We shake hands, and the crowd chants our names. I give a slight smile, and their cheering grows louder. The Peacekeepers then guide us into the justice building, for goodbyes. I take in the room. It's very plush, filled with luxurious fabrics. I sit in the only seat available. It's far nicer than my house, if positive adjectives can be used in correlation with my house. The door opens, and in comes Cleo.  
"Wow, that reaping went off really well! Did you _hear_ the crowd? They were chanting your name! It was really cool and-" I put a finger to her mouth to stop her excited ramblings.

"_Yes_, Cleo. I was there." I reply, and she points to my wrist.

"Interesting choice of district token." My key. I forgot I was still wearing it. I look at it, attatched to the grey rubber wristband that stands out against my dark skin. The key to the very locker that contains everything precious to me. A Peacekeeper comes in, taking Cleo out, leaving me alone.

An eerie silence fills the room, until I hear a knock at the door.

"Ariella Grayson?" A gruff voice sounds out. For a split second, I think it's my father. It would only be fair to actually show up to his daughter's entering of the Hunger Games. Instead, a Peacekeeper comes in. He's not the one that brought me here; he's not bulky enough.

"Ariella, I must inform you that your father has been imprisoned, on the account of not attending a reaping." It was bound to happen eventually. "Due to the abusive nature he displayed whilst resisting arrest, he has been sentenced to death," a smirk creeps onto my face, "However, we have made a deal with him." What? Deal? How could my father be possibly sober enough to reason with them? "He agreed to let us execute him if his daughter was to lose in the Hunger Games. If you become victor, he'll walk out alive." He walks out of the door, leaving me confused and shocked. If I die in the games, my father'll be publicly executed. but if I win, he gets to walk a free man? Anger wells up inside me, and I punch the cushion on the sofa, tears threatening to form. Even now, my one chance of freedom, my father has destroyed my life. If I come back, he'll spend the rest of his days abusing me, and if I die, he'll get what he wants; me to have left the realm of the living. And I won't give him that satisfaction.

I walk out of my room, escorted by the Peacekeepers, into the same car used every year. It closes, and me and my fellow tribute are left to endure our escort's continual assault of Capitol compliments, how even the smallest of homes is larger than the justice building, how they actually have a fashion sense. And so on, until we reach the train station. I step out, and the cameras instantly blind me. I make my way past the adoring mob, towards the gleaming silver train. Everything's going at a hundred miles an hour, and the only clear thought I can manage is how my father has made sure every moment for the rest of my life will be controlled by him.

And this time, there'll be no way out.


	4. Happily Ever After

**Elektra Sparke, 17, District 3 Victor**

My eyes burst open, welcoming the sunlight shining through the window. It helps to remind me that the world isn't entirely made of darkness. I slide out of my massive bed, and try to forget my latest nightmare.

I was back in the arena, being held by the fleshy faceless sewer monster, watching as Kathrynn, the female tribute from District 12, brutally mauled Samuel, my district partner. I wipe away the newly formed tears, and put my slippers on. It's the longest day of the year, yet I've still managed to wake with the sun. I check my clock. It's just past five in the morning. At least I managed to sleep throughout the night. I walk over to my dresser, and look at the pictures laying on top of it. They're of me on my victory tour, each picture in a different location, the 12 districts plus the Capitol. I look at the one of me in my home district, District 3. I'm smiling and waving to the crowd, the clear blue sky shining above the central square. I look out of my window, towards town, and see the drastic changes that have occurred in the past two years since I was reaped for the Hunger Games. Since that fateful day, the demands from the Capitol have rapidly increased, tripling the amount of factories, causing a toxic cloud of smog to continually loom over most of the district, the victors' village being one of the few places unaffected by the intense polluting air.

I walk into my bathroom, and quickly wash up for today. There is an air of importance about today, but I can't seem to remember. I get dressed in what I call my 'comfort' outfit; a loose lounging outfit. I always wear it when I've been woken by horrific nightmares. I grab the book I was reading last night, and sit down to continue where I left off. Reading has now become a past time of mine; it helps me escape from reality in a sane manner. It's about a young girl that escapes from her tormenting life, and finds a handsome man that whisks her away to her dream reality. They live happily ever after, with two children and a few pets. It's ironic that the few books the Capitol allows people to read always end happily ever after, the main character enduring a hardship, then escaping to the life they've always dreamed of. In a roundabout way, it's probably a message to the districts, that this is the life we could have had if we hadn't blown it by rising against our tormentors. And speaking from experience, I know hardships never end happily ever after. Instead, they leave a broken mess that's all but dead to the world, wishing that they never had the misfortune of being born.

I close my book, placing it back on the shelf. Out of all people, I am one of the few that has essentially achieved the happy ending. But I haven't. I'm still trapped in the confines of the district, it's just that my prison cell has been coated with glitter. And I'll never find love and start a family; it's suicide being a victor and having a child, as they're guaranteed a place in the Hunger Games. The Capitol loves it when a victor's kid is thrown into the arena. Almost all of the time, they never make it out of the arena alive, with the exception of being a Career, but the odds are entirely in their favour anyway; they train for the Games starting the day after their first reaping.

It's now seven, so I make my way out of my bedroom, casually glancing at the calender pinned on the wall. My heart drops to my stomach when I see today's date; reaping day. Another pair of children'll be sent to their slaughter, and to make matters worse, I'll be mentoring them, alongside my fellow mentor, Beetee. He won his Hunger Games close to thirty years ago. He doesn't seem to be haunted by memories of the arena, unless his erratic twitchy nature counts. But he manages to hide all that behind a calm mask when dealing with the tributes. I respect him for that, because in his own way, he's showing he won't let the Capitol get to him.

I walk downstairs with heavy feet. I'm not ready to try and give hope to two kids that have been sentenced to their doom. I didn't mentor last year, and I'm glad for it. Both the tributes met horrifying ends; the male's head was blown clean off at the bloodbath, and the female was fooled by the 12 year old girl from District 4. At least her death alerted a swarm of tracker jackers that engulfed her tiny murderer.

I walk into the kitchen, and prepare myself some breakfast, but the anxiety has eaten my appetite up. I'm more nervous than the day I was reaped. It won't be me going into the arena, it'll be two kids that have no experience of surviving in a hostile environment. A horrible thought suddenly creeps into my brain. What if Rose, my best friend, is reaped? The Capitol would lap that up; me trying to keep my best friend alive, knowing her death would destroy me. But that's how they like their undesirable victors, broken and dead to the world. They have various ways of doing this; slip some alcohol through their door, introducing the destructive Morphling drug into their lives, forced prostitution with the disgusting citizens of the Capitol, or their personal favourite; sending someone close to them into the arena. Either way, they'll do whatever it takes to break you. That's why they must hate Beetee; after all these years they haven't broken him. I've learnt that they've thrown everything they could at him. They publicly executed his family on the grounds that they were conspiring to start an uprising. They even went as far as sending all his friends into the arena; he won at the age of sixteen, so they managed to send roughly six unfortunate kids to their deaths. But he never let them destroy him, he rebelled until they had nothing left to use against him. If it came to that with me, I don't think I could resist the Capitol if they threatened to kill anyone close to me.

I'm suddenly aware of a sound, and I tense up. I breathe a sigh of relief when I realise it's just my mother coming downstairs.

"Good morning, Elektra," she says, preparing her own breakfast, "Sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept the whole night," I reply. I really hate her knowing about the nightmares that ravage my sleep. I glance at the clock again. Half nine. I hear a noise from outside, and I can tell straight away what it is, the thick Capitol accent is hard to miss. The front door bursts open, and my prep team stroll in. Apparently, you don't lose your prep team once you get out of the arena; you have to have them for your victory tour, and for your first year mentoring.

"Good morning!" Lyra, her arms adorned with harps, skips towards me, crushing me with her embrace, "I've missed you so much! Of course, you can guess how _thrilled_ I was when I heard the news I was to prep you for your first year of mentoring! In fact, I was so excited, I had to settle with _gems_ for that evening instead of stars! But it was worth it, looking less fabulous, because I get to see _you_ again!" she lets out a giddy squeak.

"I've missed you too." I say, wriggling out of the death-grip As soon as I do, all three herd me into my bathroom, and rip my clothes off. The makeover session begins with them rubbing a pink liquid all over my body. They then mummify me in wax strips, tearing it all off in one swift motion. Tears prick my eyes as I'm left red and sore for what feels like the millionth time in my life. They apply a powder on my shoulder that removes all traces of the stitching done when I got out of the arena. It forms a circle around the top of my arm, like an armband. It turns out that whilst having the recovery operation, my loose arm fell off my body. It was a close call, but they managed to save it. Still, I'm self conscious about it, since it's a tell-tale reminder of my arena experiences. That is one of the only things I like being 'treated' by my colourful prep team. I pretend to listen as they ramble on about how they received _oak_ tables instead of mahogany ones. I just smile and nod as they do my hair in an elaborate style that I could never replicate. Finally, they put me in a flowing white dress, and declare that I'm now presentable to the world.

It takes everything I've got, but I manage to convince my prep team that I will be fine walking to the reaping alone. It feels awkward in these shoes, but I walk out of the mansion, and head towards the central square for the reaping. I pass by the queue of children as their fingers are pricked and they're herded into age groups. I have to stop myself from joining the queue; old habits die hard. Instead, I walk around the square, entering from behind the justice building, they already have the transportation taken care of for the tributes, and sit in one of the chairs on stage. There are three to choose from, since our district only has three living victors. Old Antony died of a heart attack last winter, and the other seven also passed away over the years. Now there's only me, Beetee, and Wiress left alive. There were three other victors after Beetee, not including Wiress and myself, but they all took their own lives after being unable to cope with the trauma of being a victor.

"Good afternoon." A voice startles me. It's Beetee, who'll share the job of being mentor to this year's tributes with me.

"Yes, but there's nothing good at all about today," I reply, "I don't want to have the job of sugar-coating the imminent deaths of two of these kids." He's about to say something when Wiress joins us. She says nothing, just looks sombre as she stares fixedly into the crowd. I wonder what the Capitol did to break her.

Suddenly, the mayor walks over to the podium centre stage, and begins the same speech heard every year, how Panem rose from North America's ruins, how the districts rebelled, and how the Hunger Games are a sign of submission and loyalty. The speech goes on forever, and the mayor's voice is annoying to listen to. It's monotone and nasally, and the party here during the victory tour was unbearable since he kept talking to me, and I couldn't understand most of what he said. If only we were richer, like Districts 1 and 2. They have a projected film shown to them, instead of their mayor droning on and on. I'm actually relieved to hear Rory Parksson's high pitched trill when the mayor steps off the podium, and he steps on.

"Welcome, welcome. Welcome to the sixty eighth annual Hunger Games, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favour!" he squeaks like he does every year. I see he changed his fiery red colour scheme to a forest green one this year, his hair done in such a way it seems as if vines are wrapping themselves around his head. He then teeters over to the glass ball full of names on the far side of the stage. "Ladies first!"

I look up at the perpetually grey sky. I don't want to see the name being drawn. Don't want to see the poor child make their way to the stage.

"Magnum Flowes!" I let out a sigh. It's not Rose. I turn to see a golden haired girl make her way to the stage. I see her exchange a terrified glance with someone in the male crowd, and he mirrors her look. Her bright green eyes begin to well with tears, and she focuses her gaze elsewhere.

"And now, for the boys!" our pile of vegetation formerly known as a district escort shoves his hand deep into the bowl, and pulls out a slip.

"Veris Sphene!" Veris Sphene. I know that name. We used to share a few classes in school, but we never really interacted. He walks to the stage, his pale face devoid of any emotion. It's then that it strikes me. His eyes are the exact same as the eyes of the District 4 girl that nearly killed me back in my games. I pinch my arm to bring myself back to reality. The two tributes are now shaking hands, the crowd performing the mandatory applause. The Peacekeepers arrive on stage, directing the pair to the justice building for the goodbye hour. A Capitol attendant calls me and Beetee over, and we climb into a long black car. We set off from the square, headed for the train station. As it draws into view, I begin to panic. It's the exact same train used when I was a tribute. The same train I learned about my late district partner Samuel lying about his age to feed his starving family. At least they got the food on the twelve monthly parcel days for the whole district. I'm suddenly aware I'm shaking, and Beetee puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder as we get out. I walk onto the platform as the cameras snap a few pictures of us. It'll be nothing compared to what the two tributes'll get, since one of them might come home with a crown. And I imagine it would be the highest honour to have taken a picture of a future victor. I climb the silver steps, and make my way to my cabin. It's far more luxurious than the tribute cabin. It almost looks like an exact replica of one of the bedrooms in the victor's mansion. I sit down on the bed, and dwell upon the thought I've had since the reaping.

How am I going to get one of these two children out alive?


	5. Beauty is Pain

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, school's been killing me and my creativity. Also, the rest of the reapings will be put up as oneshots later on; I didn't want to write the same thing 24 times over. Anywho, without further ado, the first night and the second day! :D**

**April Holme, 14, District 12 Tribute, Capitol Train**

I stare out of the window as District 12 grows distant. My parents, my friends, all gone. I stay there until the last of the woods have completely left my sight. When the last trace of home has vanished, I move from my spot. I take in the sight of the train cart. It puts even the justice building to shame. The large table is piled with foods that smell so divine, I think I've died and gone to heaven. I grab a silver plate, and fill it with a sweet spongy food drizzled with a delicious yellow sauce. I make my way to the dining cart, and see my fellow district partner, Tobias, feasting on a steaming leg of some bird. Since he's also from the Seam, it's likely the closest he's ever gotten to this meal back home was killing one of the many wild turkies that roam outside the fence of the district. Our escort walks in, her puffy blue hair slightly off. As I guessed earlier, it's definitely a wig.

"I apologise, but your mentor won't be joining us for dinner. He's more concerned about his liquor than the welfare of his tributes." Tobias begins to chuckle,

"What's new there?" For some reason, his laughter is contagious, and I begin to laugh too.

"When I signed up to become an escort, I at least expected to be treat with some decency. I didn't want to be avoiding the spray of vomit that came from his mouth!" she covers her mouth with her hands, and vanishes into the next cart. Tears are streaming down Tobias' face, and my laughter escalates too, until we're both howling hysterically.

"Did you see her? I can't believe how flustered she got over that! After all, she's seen enough of him on television to know he's constantly drunk." Tobias begins to control himself, and I do the same. Well, at least it's not all bad. I tear a chunk off the delicious meal on my plate, and as it passes my lips, our disgruntled escort returns. When she sees me eating, she nearly drops her plate.

"Oh my. Aren't you aware that you eat sponge cake with a spoon? I hadn't realised how uncouth District 12 really was." She presses her lips together, and hands me a spoon. I thought that spoons were used for soup, not cake. I scoop up a loose slice, and shove it in my mouth.

"Better," She says, "but you still have room for improvement." She sits down, and begins eating some colourful dish with feathers sticking out of it. Suddenly, something foul permeates my nostrils. It smells like alcohol mixed with vomit. Our mentor.

"Ah, Haymitch. Decided to finally join us, hm?" Our escort glares at him accusingly.

"Sorry, _your highness_, but I just came to see the _charming_ faces of the next two corpses before they're dead," he slurs, eyeing both me and Tobias up, "It's a little something I like to call _common courtesy._" He says that last sentence in the same accent as our escort. I can't help but supress a laugh at this statement. "Well, I'm just going to get another drink and-" He trips, hitting one of the tables, its contents falling all over him. Any laugh I was supressing has slipped out; I'm now laughing harder than I thought possible.

"Well, that's what you get for drinking all day," Our escort turns her nose up, literally, and looks at the clock, "The recap of the reapings is about to start. Come on, we don't want to miss anything."

We walk into the main cart. There's a bar of sorts at the back of the room, and a massive television on the wall. We sit on the massive red sofa, and our escort presses a button that switches it on. It shows the seal of the Capitol, and the anthem is playing in the background. Once the song has ended, the announcers appear.

"Hello, and welcome to the 68th annual Hunger Games!" One of the announcers, a woman with bright orange hair and purple skin, cheers. "Tonight, we get to meet the tributes for the very first time!" the screen cuts to what appears to be District 1. Both tributes from the district are volunteers, quite obviously Career tributes. It's the same story for District 2 as well, both districts providing menacing Careers. District 3's tributes are like most of us; innocent kids that won't last very long. District 4 produces another glamorous tanned duo. The rest of the reapings seem to repeat themselves, two kids being almost forced on the stage. The only notable thing is that for the first time in ages, District 6 hasn't coughed up a drug addict, just two really young kids. It then shows our reaping, and how both me and Tobias walked to the stage, devoid of emotion. After all, crybabies tend to be first to die.

"Well, I don't know about you, but the Careers look as strong as ever." Our escort seems to have forgotten that she's supposed to be on _our_ side for the games, not the Careers'. "Well, it's getting late, and we don't want to be tired for our grand entrance to the Capitol, do we?" We're practically forced into our rooms by our escort as she also enters her room. I slide into my bed, and look out of the window as the occasional light flitters past my window. It's probably the other districts as we shoot past them. I can't help but wonder which district we're passing. 4? 7? Whatever district it is, they've also lost two more kids. Eventually, the light passes, and sleep overcomes me.

"April! Get up, it's a big, big day!" The incessant rapping at my door stirs me awake. The sunlight streams into my eyes the moment I open them. Another bright day. I dress myself in a simple outfit, and walk out of my room. The scent of breakfast reaches my nostrils and, drawn by the delightful aroma, I make my way to breakfast. I grab a plate piled high with toasted bread, and begin to devour the meal, but my stomach isn't used to such extravagant food, and I'm full after the second slice. I try to ignore my now aching stomach as our mentor stumbles in, clutching a bottle.

"How wonderful. Today, you'll get your first glimpse of the hellhole that rules this stinkin' country." He takes a swig of the bottle, and throws himself on a chair. He grabs a small pastry, and begins to eat it.

"So," I begin, "when do you begin to give us life saving advice? You are our mentor, after all." He looks at me for a moment, and takes another swig of the bottle.

"You want to know _how_ to save your sorry self? Go back in time, and prevent the misfortune of your birth. That good enough, sugar?" he begins to laugh uncontrollably, nearly dropping his liquor.

"Haymitch, how rude of you! The young lady asked a question, and it's only polite to give them an honest answer." Our escort berates him, and he just laughs more.

"Well, your highness, it's true. If she was never born, she'd never have to worry about a thing. Maybe you should do the same. I'm sick of you already." He belches loudly in her face, and she lets out an unnaturally loud squeal.

"Well I never, you put the slight flaws in these two to shame with your appauling manners!" she motions to me and Tobias, "You should be ashamed!" Suddenly, everything goes black. My eyes have just adjusted to the darkness when we exit the tunnel.

Giant builings line the outside of the train, their big windows staring right at us. Then I see the city. Every colour imaginable pops out, making for an explosion of colour. One building even looks like fire itself, constantly weaving and flickering. We enter one of the streets, and thousands of banners adorn the buildings. At first, it's like a faint whisper, but as we move deeper into the city, the screaming grows louder.

Thousands of people, each one dyed a different colour, cheering and blowing kisses to our train. And every one of them seems to have some animal feature. Cat whiskers, tails, feathers. And this one woman who wore this chicken outfit. The crowd's cheering grows louder as we hit a main street, and balloons begin to attack the windows. I look ahead as we slow down, entering the massive golden glowing station. The train draws to a stop, and we make our way out. As soon as I step on the solid gold pavement, I'm blinded by a million cameras. I look behind me. It seems Tobias is also suffering from the lights. I continue to walk forward, until we reach the doors of another building. We all walk inside, and the assault stops. The building's a brilliant white, and it smells sterile.

"This way you two." Our escort guides us to an elevator. She presses a button, and we shoot upwards. This fills me with excitement as the Capitol people become tiny specks that remind me of the jelly beans I sometimes see on the cakes in the bakery. The elevator comes to a sudden stop, and it jerks me slightly.

"Isn't this exciting? You're about to meet your stylists! Oh, I wonder what outfits they've come up with this year!" our escort does a little clap, and shoves me into a small room. Everything's white, and seems so clean. Suddenly, three women come in, all green.

"Hello there. We're your prep team. Our job is to make you look presentable to Floria." One of the identical women says. Because I'm obviously not presentable. Without warning, they strip my clothes off, leaving me standing there naked. Instinctively, I cover myself as they observe me. Then, they collectively gasp as they see my legs.

"Oh. My. Gosh! This simply can't do. Get the wax! Quickly, I can't stand to see this much hair!" They look as if they're about to vomit. I don't understand what's to vomit at. It's just a little bit of body hair. And besides, I have better things to be doing than worrying about the hair on my legs. But to them, it's obviously a massive deal. They strap me down on a seat, and begin placing strips of wax on my legs. They pull it off, and I let out a yelp at the pain. I look at my leg, where there's now a pink and sore rectangle. They continue to do this to every hair on my body that isn't on my head. When they're done, my body's left feeling sore and exposed. They put me in a tub of some pink liquid that stings, and rub me with a blue liquid. Once that's done, they begin rubbing some red hot lotion into my hair, then rinse it out. I'm left feeling raw all over, and they closely examine me once more.

"Much better. Now we can get Floria!" They all giggle and walk out, to get this 'Floria'. Hopefully she's not as crazy as these people.

When she finally walks in, I begin to miss my prep team's slight quirkiness. Floria's dyed a bright orange, with blue hair that curls out in all directions. But what is really horrifying is her rear. It's a massive bulge, the size of her torso, and rounder than her entire boy. It's barely covered by a sand coloured skirt. I pray I never have to see her from behind.

"Hello there, darling. My name's Floria, and I'm your stylist. What that means is that I'll be making all your outfits before you go into the arena." She says this very slowly, as if I speak a different language.

"Look, I'm not an idiot, so don't treat me like one. You're lucky I'm even letting you near me." I snap at her, anger slowly building up. I bite my lip to stop myself from yelling at her.

"Oh my, aggressive _and_ idiotic! Why couldn't I have gotten a better district, " she sighs, "Well, let's get this over with." She pulls out a silver can, and sprays it at me, dying my skin pitch black. Of course, my chariot outfit would have something to do with coal. Once I'm entirely black, she leads me into a larger room, and puts something over my head. I feel something cold and heavy cover my body, and when she uncovers my eyes, I look like the biggest fool I've ever seen. I'm a giant black boulder, my head, hands and feet sticking out. I can barely move in this outfit, but Floria begins to push me towards the elevator. We barely fit in together, and I'm grateful when we reach the bottom, and I'm rolled out. I continue to be rolled towards my chariot, and see the other tributes laugh as I'm pushed onto my chariot.

"Well, this makes my outfit look completely fine." I turn my head and see Tobias. He's almost naked, save for a miner's hat and a toolbelt placed in such a way it conceals his groin. He's also holding an unnecessarily large pickaxe.

"You're right. I'd rather me a naked miner than a lump of coal any day." I groan as the chariot begins to move. Since we're District 12, we're the last chariot out. When we finally get outside, the noise from the crowd is deafening. I try and smile, but one glance at the screen tells me that they wouldn't see my facial expression, due to the makeup. And since I can't move, I just have to sit there like the lump of coal I am. The cheering dies down slightly as we're put in the limelight. Then again, I wouldn't cheer for an outfit as horrible as mine. We eventually reach the end of the ride, and the chariots are arranged in a circle. I look up, and see the platform across from me. The cameras focus on it, and President Snow stands.

"Welcome, tributes. Welcome, to the sixty eighth annual Hunger Games." The crowd goes insane as the chariots begin to move down a different street, an ominous building at the end. The training centre, the last place most of us will spend alive before the games.


	6. Making Promises

**A/N: Hey again! This chapter's the night after the chariot rides, with some blatantly obvious shipping. OTL**

**Ryder Bristen, 18, District 4 Tribute**

"Oh my, you were marvellous! The both of you!" Our escort begins kissing both me and Annemarie. I hop out of the chariot, the fish tail making it quite hard to move.

"Can I get some help?"Annemarie asks, since her outfit is hard to move about in.

"Sure." I reply, and grab her, lifting her down.

"Thanks. That outfit is impossible to move in." Our escort mutters something before guiding us both to the elevator.

"If your outfits really are that uncomfortable, I suggest you change before dinner."

"Hey, where are our mentors?" Annemarie asks. It's true, we haven't seen them since the train.

"Well, they have urgent matters to attend to in the Capitol, is all." Our escort replies, adjusting her blue hair. It looks like some massive tidal wave, but there have been crazier fashion statements.

The elevator stops on our floor of the training centre. Annemarie lets out a gasp at the room, and I see why. It's huge, the dining room twice the size of the huge one in the train, and it's full of food.

"Well, since you said you were goinng to change, you'd best do that now whilst the food's still warm." Our escort says as she takes a seat. I walk out of the dining room, down the hall, and into the room where I'll be staying until the games begin. I shut the door, and pull off the shining fish tail, setting it on the side. I go into the closet, and select a plain outfit. It's a relief to actually have normal clothing in there. I walk out, and join the others for dinner. During the brief amount of time it took me to change, our mentors have turned up, Shellie and Lukas. Their hair is slightly messed up, and their clothes look slightly scruffy.

"Where were you?" Annemarie asks them. They exchange an almost worried glance before replying.

"Just meeting up with some old friends." Lukas replies almost nonchalantly. Something about his story seems off, but Annemarie seems convinced. I take a serving of fresh fish stuffed with herbs, and begin to eat. It tastes far nicer than the fish back in District 4; they've probably added things to it to enhance the flavour. Even so, our escort complains about the food being too bland. I barely eat the fish before my stomach feels bloated. Not only does the food taste nice, but it's far richer.

"Now tomorrow's training. I'd advise the two of you to join the Career pack. You'll have more food, more supplies, and an overall better chance of winning." Shellie says, finishing her meal. That was already mine and Annemarie's plan, but now there's no choice but to.

"Alright then." I say. Suddenly, our escort jumps out of her seat.

"Oh goodness! How could I have forgotten! The recap of the chariot parade's about to start! Come on!" she practically pulls us out of our seats, and we follow her to the living room as she frantically switches the television on. It shows the seal of the Capitol, and the last few notes of the anthem are playing. The screen switches to the two faces of the Hunger Games, Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. Caesar's hair's been dyed the colour of stone this year, which is actually strange to see a plain colour on such extravagant hair. They start off by cracking a few jokes with one another, then the chariots roll out.

District 1's tributes are dressed in regal outfits adorned with various jewels. The dark haired boy begins throwing some of the jewels at the crowd, and they go wild. The girl blows kisses to the crowd. They have the audience captivated. District 2 follows, dressed like warriors. They both give menacing smiles at the crowd, and even Caesar comments on how they look like true Careers. District 3 takes their place afterwards. Their outfits aren't brilliant, but they are interesting. They both are wearing formal outfits, but they're entirely made of wire. The crowd still cheers for them anyway. Then come us.

As soon as we're in the spotlight, our outfits begin to release bubbles that float towards the crowd. The chariot then begins to release a spray of water, catching the light in just the right way that it creates a rainbow. The oyster in the middle of the chariot opens, revealing Annemarie looking like a mermaid. Her tail shimmers with the light, releasing thousands of bubbles into the air. The crowd goes wild, but unfortunately we don't get the spotlight forever. The cameras focus on District 5's chariot, but the outfits have begun to go downhill. They're dressed in outfits made of foil, with lightbulbs on their head. The crowd goes from cheering to politely clapping. And the outfits get worse. District 6's tributes are dressed like cars, District 7 yet again has a pair of trees, District 8 looks like someone threw a pile of fabric on top of them, District 9's in golden outfits, District 10's dressed like cows, District 11's some sort of fruit. But the most hilarious outfit is District 12. We all start laughing as they're rolled out. The boy's wearing only a toolbelt and a miner's hat, and is holding an oversized pickaxe. But the girl is priceless. Her skin's dyed pitch black, and she looks like a massive boulder. Her hands and feet barely stick out of the massive lump, and the makeup completely hides any facial expressions. Even the announcers are having a hard time keeping a straight face. The cameras then cut to the president's speech, and the show ends with Caesar telling everyone to stay tuned for the tribute interviews in a couple of days time.

"Well, I have to say you two absolutely stole the show! Congratulations, this'll really aid in getting sponsors for you." Lukas says, getting up, "Well, you have training all day tomorrow, so I'd advise you two to get some rest." He walks off to his room, and we all do the same. I go to my room, pull my clothes off, and crawl into bed. But sleep doesn't come. Another hour passes, and I don't feel the least bit tired. I hear a noise from outside my room, a crashing sound, followed by a curse. Annemarie's up too. I get out of my bed, and make my way to the door. I'm about to open it when I remember I'm dressed in only my underwear. I grab a bath robe, put it on, and make my way to the main area. I find my district partner on the floor, surrounded by the contents of one of the cupboards.

"Are you alright?" I ask her. She nods. "Want me to help you up?" she nods again. I help her up, and move her away from the mess.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you? I didn't mean to. I just couldn't sleep and decided to make myself a warm drink, but I ended up making a mess."

"You didn't wake me. I was already up. I couldn't sleep either." I tell her, and begin to pick up the various pieces of cutlery that now adorn the floor. She helps me, and we put them back in the drawer they fell from. I then find a drinks machine, and pour two mugs of warm milk.

"What was keeping you awake?" I say as we move to the sofa, sitting down.

"Honestly, I'm terrified about training. What if the Careers don't find me good enough?" Annemarie says between sips.

"Don't say that. I've seen you train, and the Careers would be stupid not to accept you." I reply, taking another sip of my drink. Already, I feel the effects beginning to work. I let out a yawn as Annemarie begins to speak again.

"But if the Careers do reject me, promise me you'll stick with me. I don't think I'd be able to do well alone." She says, her voice slightly shaky.

"I promise." I tell her, "After all, we've been partners since the very start."

We both started training when we were twelve, after our first reaping had come and gone. Back then, I was shy and lacking in confidence, whilst Annemarie essentially took charge of the junior's class. However, when everyone found out she had issues with eating fish due to a traumatic childhood experience, her popularity went down the drain. I took it upon myself to cheer her up, and she helped me in training. Since then, we've been an inseperable team. I finish the last of my drink, and place it on the side. Annemarie also finishes her drink, and yawns.

"Ryder, do you feel that chill as well?" she says, curling up on the sofa. As soon as she does, I feel the chill in the air as well. The Capitol's much colder than District 4, but I've experienced much colder, so it doesn't bother me.

"Here," I say, taking off my bath robe and putting it over her, "Better?" She looks shocked at this for some reason.

"Thank you, but aren't you freezing dressed in so little?" She says, getting in a comfortable position.

"Don't worry about it. I've had to go diving in this much during cold snaps, so this slight chill's nothing." I say, laying on the other side of the massive sofa.

"Well thanks, I appreciate this." She says as she slowly drifts off. I end up doing the same as sleep overtakes me.

I'm woken by a screech. My eyes burst open to see our escort staring at me. I move my arm, only to find it wrapped around Annemarie. She wakes up, and seeing the situation, blushes.

"What are you doing?" Our escort screeches, "You have your own private rooms, but instead, you choose the sofa? And what's with this?" she motions at the scene presented in front of her. I pull my hand away from Annemarie, and I leap up, trying to escape the situation.

"Okay, okay. Where's the fire?" I turn and see Lukas standing in the doorway. Annemarie also gets up and looks at our not best pleased mentor.

"You two, put some clothes on. And you," he points to our flustered escort, "Would you kindly explain why you were screaming like a twelve year old in the bloodbath at this hour? You know I'm not a morning person, so you screaming your head off has succeeded in putting me in a foul mood." He walks towards her, and me and Annemarie flee to our rooms.

On my bed, I find my training centre outfit, a simple jumpsuit. Before I put it on, I make my way into the shower, and turn it on. As soon as I do, water that feels like boiling lava cascades down my back. I yelp in pain, and press another button, which makes the water get as cold as it can get without freezing. After several buttons, I finally get it to the temperature of the sea around our district in summer, warm but not hot, and cool but not freezing. I slip, hitting another button, which sends pink foam shooting at me from all directions, followed by sponges that scrub every part of my body. I press another button, and everything stops. I step out of the shower, and a blast of hot air hits my head. My hair's dried and cooled, and a towel's wrapped around me. After this awful ordeal, I cautiously step out of the bathroom, and put my training outfit on. I walk out of my room, and make my way to the dining room for breakfast. Our escort's still complaining to an obviously annoyed Lukas, Annemarie's devouring some food, and Shellie's got business to attend to. I eat some sweet pancakes, and as soon as I've finished, our escort's dragging both me and Annemarie to the elevator.

"Now you've finished breakfast, let's head to training. After all, it's better to be early than late." She says as we're shoved into the elevator. It goes down, and when it opens, I'm in a massive room; the training centre. Time to show the Careers that we're ready to join them.


	7. Slip ups

**Alanna Pyre, 12, District 6 Tribute**

"Alanna, get up!" I hear the energetic voice through my door, and I pray it's my escort, not- "It's me, Tyler!" Nope. Not my crazy escort. My crazy district partner, Tyler Hawes. He drives me insane; since boarding the train, he hasn't shut up. When we arrived in the Capitol, I looked at it like the pile of filth it is, whilst he didn't stop going on about how big it was. During the chariot ride, we were dressed to look like golden buses, and he wouldn't stop making impressions of the vehicle. I shove my head under my pillow in an attempt to drown him out. After half an hour of his incessant chatter, I give in, and climb out of bed.

I walk into the shower, and see the wall of buttons in front of me. There's roughly three hundred buttons there, each one probably performing a different function. I look closer, and see the buttons have different coloured rings around them. These colours create three columns. I press the top blue button, and a freezing cold jet of water blasts at me. I press it again, turning it off. I press one in the middle of the column, and a warm stream of water flows down. Good, that's one thing sorted. I press one of the red buttons, and an orange foam erupts from the floor. It smells like oranges. I try a green button, and various sponges begin to wash me with the orange foam. I'm then rinsed off. I open the shower, and something's off about the room. I look closer, and see one of the tiles on the wall has slightly shifted diagonally, and something is reflecting the light. I step out, and more tiles open, warm air blasting my head. It stops after a minute, and I grab a towel just as one is thrown at me. _So even the bathrooms are rigged with unexpected secrets._ I walk back into my bedroom, and see an outfit laid out on my bed, a plain dark jumpsuit; the training uniform. I look around my room, searching for some way it could have gotten in, but find nothing. I put it on, and face the door. I see that it's ever so slightly open. It couldn't have been Tyler, since these doors can only be opened from the inside. Unless you have a key. I fully open the door, and find a key in the door. Whoever got in must be skilled in being silent. I walk down the hall, noting the many poorly hidden cameras in the walls and plants. There really is no privacy in the Capitol. I turn right, and walk into the main living area here.

"Alanna! You sure took your time!" Our escort immediately begins to chew my ear off, "We have to be going in twenty minutes!"

"Sorry," I say, "I was just figuring out how to use the shower." _And pointing out the hidden cameras everywhere._

"Well, at least you won't have to re-figure it out now, so tomorrow, you'll be ready straight away!" She's calmed down now. It is strange how she can jump from one emotion to the next. I make a mental note to see if anything causes these bizarre mood swings. I grab a silver plate, and place a few fruits on it. They're strangely sweet; probably pumped with flavour enhancements. Once I've finished, I put the plate on the table, and my escort begins to yell at the doorway.

"You there! Take this tribute's plate and dispose of it!" I'm about to ask her what's going on inside her tiny head when I'm aware of another presence. I glance to my right, and standing right next to me is a young woman with pitch black hair, her green eyes full of worry. She picks up the plate, then, as silently as she arrived, she leaves. An avox, that's what she is. By openly defying the Capitol, you are arrested and made into an avox; a tongueless slave to the citizens of the Capitol, and the tributes. And if avoxes make a sound, they're executed immediately. Another disgusting thing from the Capitol, yet it still claims to be better than the districts.

"Hey Alanna! Are you excited for training? Because I'm excited! In fact, I don't think I have ever been this excited! Well, maybe that one time at my friend's birthday party, but nothing could have topped that! I mean, you should have seen the way the cake-"

"Shut up. Please, just shut up." I say, my frustration building, "I'm okay with you being in a good mood, but please, for the love of Panem, just keep quiet." He looks at me with wide eyes, then moves his finger across his lips.

"What are you doing?" I say, thoroughly confused by this boy.

"Zipping my mouth shut." He says, beaming. I just sigh, and stand up just as our escort does. It's time to go to the training centre. Hopefully the sight of the Careers will make him realise we're in a deathmatch fighting for our lives, not whatever he perceives the situation to be.

The elevator doors open to reveal the training centre, a massive room full of stations that'll be essential to our survival. Tyler lets out a loud gasp at the sight of the place, interrupting the speech the head trainer was giving.

"As I was saying," she picks up again, "In roughly three weeks, all but one of you will be dead. Which of you will survive shall be determined by how well you train. And remember, weapons training is all well and good, but less than half of you will actually die at the hands of another tribute. The most common causes of death are; infection, starvation, dehydration, and exposure. Be sure to check out all the stations, they are what could very well save you in the arena." We're then dismissed to go train. Straight away, the tributes from 1 and 2 flock to the weapons station, whilst the others go to the survival basics stations. I go to the camouflage station first, and begin to paint my arm to blend in with the tree at the station.

"Wat'cha doing Alanna?" Tyler's face pops up in front of me, causing me to smear my paint.

"Trying to blend myself in with the tree." I say through gritted teeth.

"Why would you want to blend in with a tree? Unless... You're part tree! Or you just really wanna become a tree, which is strange, but I've seen stranger. There's this one boy at school that actually shoves rocks up his-"

"I really don't want to know that story, thank you." I say, trying to keep calm as I wash off my failed attempt at camouflage. Laughter fills the air, and I see the head Gamemaker, a dark skinned woman with dark red hair, looking right at me, laughing at my misfortune. I shoot her a deady glare, and move on to the fire building station, and try to immerse myself in the instructions given to me. The fire's just begun to grow when it's put out by someone running over it. I don't even need to look up to tell it's Tyler.

"Sorry, but I just saw the coolest thing! The two from District 4 can throw their giant forks really well! But the boy's really bad with knives and bows. I mean, they just go WHOOSH right past the target! And the boy from District 2 runs really slowly! Even my dead grandmother could run faster than him!" As soon as he shuts up, a plan formulates in my mind. He just gave me information about some of the Careers. I could use him to gather information about all the other tributes as well.

"Tyler, that's great!" I begin, "Why don't you see what cool things the others are doing as well? How's about you aim to have cool facts about everybody by the end of the day? Then you can spend all of tonight telling me them?"

"Really? Okay!" He bolts off, headed towards the girl from 11, who's currently at the edible plants station.

I move over to the healing station, and pick up a roll of bandages. The instructor shows me how to tie up a wound in such a way that it prevents blood loss. I then try one that should prevent a loose limb coming off. Whilst covering myself in bandages, I wonder how Tyler's coming along gathering information about all the other tributes. I unwrap myself, and move on to the next station, which is the assault course. I stand at the start, and sprint down it, swiftly avoiding the trainers' clubs as they swing them at me. I slide under the next obstacle, and hop off. One of the trainers congratulates me on such good timing for one so young, but I brush him off as I make my way to the now vacant edible plants station. It's a massive machine that shows a picture of a commonly found plant in the arena, and I have to select one of the three options; Safe, Deadly, or Varies. The first up is mint leaves. I press safe, and the machine tells me I'm correct. I fly through the test, until the last picture- Nightlock.

_"Here Alanna, If you open this berry, you can find a medicine ball. If you're ever hurt, just open one, and it'll take the pain away."_ The memory still seems fresh in my head, but the loving big brother that taught me that was taken by these sick Hunger Games two years back. I still remember watching him get crushed by the walls of the sewer, trapped in the jaws of that beast that tore his entire alliance apart. I'm about to hit safe, when I remember how last year the berries lacked the medicine, and ended up killing both from 12. So I press 'Varies'. My results are shown- 92%. I could have done worse.

Suddenly, I hear yelling. I turn to see Tyler with the Careers, holding a sword. I can't quite make out what he's saying, but he's infuriating the boy from 2. Finally, Tyler runs off, and I hear the boy from 2 yell.

"That's it. District 6 is first in the bloodbath." his words shake me right to the core. I'm now at the top of this monstrous boy's hitlist. I feel like crying in fear, but instead, I yell at Tyler.

"What the hell did you do?! You do realise what you've done; you've made us the number one targets of the Careers!" I'm yelling louder than I have ever done before.

"I just wanted to tell him how cool he was stabbing those dummies." Tyler says, sounding somewhat deflated.

"Well, Mr Admiration, in four days, _we're_ going to be the dummies for him!" I snap back. I'm so furious, I didn't notice the rest of the tributes leaving to go to their floors. Has the training for today already ended? The trainer telling us to leave confirms my suspicions.

The elevator opens on our floor, and I storm into the dining room. Our escort asks me how training was, but I ignore her. I just grab some exotic looking meat, and eat it. Tyler, however, doesn't shut up about our first day of training.

"First I watched the Careers throw their sharp weapons. That was cool. Oh, and then I saw the girl from 5 blend in with the sand at the camouflage station. Then I watched the Careers again, but one got mad, and Alanna called me a dummy." Our escort listens, almost mesmerised by his endless conversation, but looks confused at his last remark.

"What he's basically saying is, he's gotten both of us killed at the bloodbath." I say, frustrated.

"Oh my, that isn't good. But there's still a chance you'll get far, I wouldn't worry about one little comment." _Yeah. One little comment from a guy who could snap your neck in an instant._

Finishing my dinner, I make my way to my room, locking the door. I lay on the bed, and begin to sob. Any chance I ever had at winning these games has gone. He blew it, my district partner with the mentality of a five year old. At least my brother's partner couldn't speak. Right now, I'd quite happily trade Tyler for a paralyzed morphling addict. And rightly so, because I have a horrible feeling this boy's going to be the death of me.


	8. The Wrong Move

**Flax Baize, 14, District 8 Tribute**

I'm slowly brought into consciousness by the banging on my door. Yet again, District 8's escort feels the need to wake me by slamming on the door of my room. I get up, and find the training uniform, neat and cleaned, at the foot of my bed. I slip it on, and open the door of my room. I walk down the hall, to breakfast. My district partner, Quinna, is already there, alongside our mentor, eating breakfast.

"Flax, as much as this is going to make me sound like an escort, rising late isn't good when you have training." Our mentor says as she takes another bite of her breakfast. I take a slice of toast, and begin to chew on it, thinking about how training's going to go. Yesterday I managed to get through the survival based stations. I decide that today I'll try my hand at one of the weapons.

"So, what are you going to be trying in training?" Quinna asks, her voice shaky. Ever since she was reaped, she's been constantly terrified. I can't say I don't feel the same, but I've managed to get my nerves under control.

"I'm gonna try for a weapon. You can join me if you want." I say, and she smiles warmly at this. Our escort then bounds into the room, looking slightly irritated.

"This is disastrous! We should have arrived at training five minutes ago! How on earth did I manage to not stick to my schedule! Come on, before the day is over!" She drags me and Quinna to the elevator, and furiously punches the buttons. It flies down at a remarkable speed, stopping abruptly at the training centre. We're pushed out, and the elevator closes. Already the tributes have dispersed around the various stations. I look at the weapons stations and find the archery one free. I run over to it, as if it'll vanish in the next few seconds. I make it to the station, and it's still empty. I grab one of the bows, and it's heavier than I thought it would be. I load an arrow, and shoot it at a target. It misses entirely. Frustrated, I load another arrow, and prepare to shoot, when a someone puts their hand on my shoulder. Startled, I jump, the arrow barely avoiding the trainer. I turn, and see the boy from 11 standing next to me. He smiles at me.

"Hey." I say, unsure what to do.

"Hey," he replies, "I saw your shooting from the other side of the training centre, and it was so bad, I couldn't help but come over here and show you how to actually shoot." I egde away from him slightly, not trusting him. "Don't panic, I'm not gonna kill you. In fact, I'd only kill you if we were the last two left in the arena." He says, "Name's Kyle." He shakes my hand.

"Flax." I reply, returning the handshake. He takes a bow, and loads it.

"Watch." he says, as he eyes up the target, and fires. A perfect shot. "Now you try. Just focus on hitting the target."

I load my bow again, and concentrate on the target. I shoot the arrow, and it hits the target. Not the centre, like Kyle's, but it hit it.

"Good job. It's much better than your last shot. There's still room for improvement though." He comments on my shot, and I smile at the praise. "And, Flax, was it? If you'd like, we could stick together in the arena. We'd stand a better chance together." I'm taken aback by this offer. Alliances aren't uncommon in the Hunger Games. In fact, most victors were in an alliance, and I can see why. There's more food, strength in numbers, and a higher chance of getting gifts from sponsors.

"Okay then. Allies?" I say, and he nods.

"Allies. I'll try find you after the bloodbath." He walks off, and I continue to practice shooting. After quite a while, I manage to get close to the centre of the targets. I'm about to fire again when I hear yelling.

"Hey! Get out of here!" I look behind me to see the Career pack heading towards my station.

"You heard me, scram!" I quickly run away from the archery station, and head to the traps station where Quinna is. She's in the middle of what looks like a complicated snare.

"How's training been going?" She looks up.

"Okay, actually. The little girl from 9 helped me at the edible plants station. She's really smart when it comes to those things." Quinna finishes her snare, and the instructor compliments her.

"I managed to learn how to use the bow, and befriended the boy from District 11." I tell her.

"That's good; having allies might keep us alive." I nod, and begin to work on a snare. After several failed attempts, it's obvious my strengths aren't with trap setting. I move on to the camouflage station, and pick up a paintbrush. I begin to paint my arm to match the rocky backdrop. At first, I have the wrong shade of grey. I try several lighter and darker shades, but to no avail. I look closer, and finally see what's missing from my paint. There's a faint hint of red in the rock. After washing my last failure off, I grab the red paint, and add a small splash of it into my current mixture of paint. I grab the brush again, and carefully apply the paint to my arm. Once my forearm is covered, I put it next to the backdrop. It blends almost perfectly. Satisfied, I wash the paint off and leave the station. I walk across the training room, and head towards the assault course. I step on, take a deep breath, and begin.

I sprint down the first stretch, jumping over the obstacles with relative ease. I turn to the left, keeping my pace, and receive a club to the face. All feeling in my face turns to agony, and as I stand, I notice the flow of blood from my nose. I cover it with my hands, but that just succeeds in dying my hands blood red. One of the trainers gives me a small pill. I swallow it, and the bleeding stops immediately. I make my way to the bathroom, and wash the blood off my hands and face. As I walk back into the training room, I see the Career tributes staring at me, and laughing. Instanty I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and run to the elevator, humiliated. I step inside, and hit one of the buttons, not caring where it takes me, as long as it isn't here. The doors open, and I'm met by a gust of wind. I'm on the roof of the training centre. I look around. There's a small garden of sorts and a few benches dotted around. I sit on the bench closest to the flowers, and let out a sob, followed by several more.

I don't want to be here. I want to go home, and see my baby sister's warm face as she giggles at everything. I want to see my parents. My mother, constantly at a sewing machine, and my father, delivering the outfits my mother made to the transport trains. The tears flow freely down my face as I wish for my life back. I look over the ledge, and see the sun beginning to dip down, the brilliant orange orb giving the luxurious city a golden glow. I marvel at the beautiful spectacle, until I hear the elevator on the other side of the roof. I look behind me, and see Quinna running towards me.

"Flax! What are you doing?" She cries out as she approaches, "Training isn't over for another half an hour! And I'm not even sure we should be here." She says, looking around anxiously, as if there's some hidden danger.

"It's just that, I'm tired," I begin, "I'm tired of the games. There is no chance of me making it back. None!" I slam the bench with my fists, tears running again. If only there was some way to end it all, some way to... I look at the ledge, and peer over. It's a straight drop down, instant death. I stand on the ledge, and lean over.

"Flax, what are you- No. Don't. Please, don't!" I hear Quinna's frantic yelling, but I don't care. I jump right off the ledge, and begin to plummet to my doom. I hear the horrified yells of my district partner, but it's too late. _I'm sorry that I couldn't come home to you,_ the thought fills my head as I'm mere inches away from the ground. Suddenly, I feel a sharp tingling sensation throughout my body, and I'm being launched upwards. I fly over the ledge, and crash into the flowerbed, destroying the small garden. Something falls on my head, and everything goes black.

I open my eyes. I'm back in my room, dressed in a surgical gown. I see stitches along my forearm, and I'm aware of a sharp pain in my head. I try to prop myself up, but I can't. I pull the covers off and see that I'm strapped to the bed by a strap around my waist. My door opens, and my escort is standing there, looking horrified.

"Flax! What were you thinking, committing suicide! You should have known that there's a forcefield surrounding the building! And now look, you're injured! You'll be in no fit state for the games. This is disastrous!" She begins to pace the room, looking nervous, "If the Gamemakers hear of your suicide attempt, then they'll be sure to kill you! Now, did anyone see you jump?"

"Only Quinna." I say. She relaxes slightly.

"Let's just hope it was only her." She walks out, mumbling something under her breath. I glance out of the window. It's dark. How long have I been out for? My eyes begin to feel heavy, so I close them, for just a moment.

When I open them again, sunlight's streaming through my window. I look down. The strap's gone, as is the surgical gown. The training outfit's on the other end of the bed. I get up, stretching my back after several hours of not moving it. I walk into the bathroom, and step into the shower. I push the same button I did yesterday, and warm water and blue foam is scrubbed all over my body. I get out, drying myself, and put my clothing on. I walk out, and head to the dining room. Quinna's there, looking terrified, and our mentor seems somewhat concerned.

"Flax," she begins, her face deadly serious, "Let's just hope your failed attempt at suicide doesn't affect your private session today." That's right. Today's the day of the private training sessions, where every tribute is given exactly half an hour to demonstrate all the skills they have learned over the past two days to the team of Gamemakers. They'll then assess their skills, rating them with a score of 1 to 12. 1 being exceptionally bad, and 12 being unbelievably good. Fear fills my body as I begin to understand the potential side effects of my jumping off the buildings. The Gamemakers could give me a ridiculously low score, which'll destroy any chances of me getting sponsors, or a ridiculously high one, essentially putting a bright flashing target on my back for the deadlier tributes to see, essentially ensuring I meet an early demise. I sigh, picking at my breakfast. Is this what it's like to truly have a sense of hopelessness? Either way, I begin to regret ever being born. At least that way, I'd never have had to worry about it being my name that was drawn from the bowl by the Capitol.


	9. Above Expectations

**Nikki Hart, 15, District 10 Tribute**

I sit on my bed, watching as the sun's first rays creep in. I let out a yawn, my lack of sleep obvious. I should have slept last night, today's the most important pre-games day; the private training sessions. I have to show the Gamemakers everything I know if I want a decent score. I hear our district's escort knocking on my door, telling me to wake up and get dressed, but I already am. I got up and ready several hours ago, unable to sleep any more. I open the door just as she's in the middle of calling my name.

"Well, Nikki. An early riser, are you? Excellent! If only the same could be said for your partner." She points to a door I assume is Hunter's room. "I'm sure you've heard my calling to him over the past few days. I'm sure I've never met someone that takes so long to wake up! Well, to be honest, I woke half an hour late today, but no one's perfect!" She bounds down the hall to the dining room. I don't think I have ever met anyone as strange as this woman in my life.

I walk into the dining room, and sit at the massive wooden table covered in food. Our escort grabs an apple before making her way to the bedrooms again, probably to try wake Hunter and our mentor again. I take some bread, and begin to eat at it. I'm still munching on the familiar food when suddenly, something sweet covers my tastebuds. I've only tasted chocolate once in my life, but the taste is all too familiar. I take another bite of the blissful bread, tasting the chocolate centre again. Before I know it, I've finished it, and my hands are flying to a second piece. I clench it, and bring it to my mouth, devouring the delightful food.

"Slow down there kid. It's just bread, nothing special." I whip my head around and see our mentor standing in the hall. She walks over to the table, grabs something, and begins to eat away at it. I hear complaining coming from behind me now, and I see as our escort drags a half awake Hunter to the table. Hunter takes a glass of water, and slowly takes sips from it.

"So, what will you two be doing for the Gamemakers today?" Our escort asks, and Hunter's eyes shoot wide open. He obviously didn't realise that today's the private sessions.

"Well, I was thinking of showing them this elaborate trap I learned over the past few days." I say. I have actually been planning the best way to show anything I learned in training off to the Gamemakers.

"I'm going to try something with a sword. They love that sort of thing." Hunter says, more alert now.

"So, you've decided a strategy. Good." Our mentor says, munching on an apple. I finish off the sweet chocolate filled bread, and have a drink of water. We sit in silence for a while, before our escort looks at the clock.

"My goodness! Would you look at the time!" She begins handing our plates to the avoxes, and moving me and Hunter out of our seats. "The private sessions begin in fifteen minutes!" She marches us out of the dining room, down the hallway, and into the elevator. She presses the button, then steps out as the elevator begins to close.

"I'll see you two this evening. Let's hope you get good scores!"

The door opens again, and we're in the training centre. But the various stations have been taken down, and various chairs lay about the room. I see the Careers on the larger sofas, joking about something or other, and the other tributes, sitting on single chairs as far away from the Careers as possible. I sit on one of the chairs, and Hunter pulls up next to me. We sit in complete silence. Hunter's staring at his hands, as if he's deep in thought. I see one of the elevators open, and the District 3 tributes come out. I wave to Magnum, and she sits next to me.

"Nikki, I'm terrified about the session. I haven't thought of a plan at all." She says, obviously on edge.

"Well, let's make one now." I say. She looks at me, her face half hidden by her golden hair. "For starters, which weapon are you skilled at?"

"A blow gun," she replies, "It can down somebody instantly, and is small enough to not be detected."

"Well there you are. Shoot the blowgun accurately, and impress the Gamemakers with it. And the fact it's an unusual weapon will also help." I say, and her face lights up slightly.

"Ebony Amaranth." A woman says, and the boy from District 1 gets up, and follows her through the doors on the other end of the room. For a moment, the conversations stop, but they resume once more. About fifteen minutes later, the woman returns.

"Emerald Glitters." It continues this way for quite a while. After about an hour, the woman calls the next name.

"Magnum Flowes." Magnum's face tenses up, and she walks over to the woman like she had been reaped again, that fear evident in her body. She looks back for a moment, and I mouth the words 'good luck' to her. She smiles slightly, and vanishes behind the door. The woman returns fifteen minutes later, calling the next name. It continues like this for about three hours, and the woman calls the next name.

"Hunter Ruiz." He takes a deep breath, and stands up.

"Good luck." I say to him.

"Same to you." He replies, and vanishes behind the door. Suddenly, I feel strangely lonely, without my district partner. The only other districts left are 11 and 12, but they are with their partner. Suddenly, they all look straight at me.

"Nikki Hart, your training session." The woman pulls me out of my seat. I walk towards the doors, and open them. I'm in a very small hallway, double doors at the other end. I open them, and find myself in a much smaller version of the training centre. On a raised platform are the Gamemakers, heavily intoxicated. Except for the head Gamemaker, a dark skinned woman with blazing red hair in a practical ponytail. But the way she glares at me, almost accusingly, sets me on edge.

"Nikki Hart. District 10 tribute, 14." I let out, my voice shaky.

"Well then, Nikki. You have exactly fifteen minutes." The head Gamemaker replies, taking a sip from her glass of water. _Okay, Nikki. You can do this_.

Shakily, I make my way over to the traps station, and grab a box of equipment. I walk over to the tree at the camouflage station, and begin to set the trap. I tighten the rope once more, and make my way to the swords station, and grab a dummy. I walk back to the tree, and sit the dummy on a branch. Looking around, I spot my next ingredient. A blowgun, with darts. It's in a cardboard box, and looks as if it was brought in partway through the day. Probably Magnum. Still, I grab a hanful of darts, and a dagger. I nestle the darts in the bush, and hold the dagger. I launch the bladed weapon at the dummy; it falls, right into the trap. The darts fly out of the bush, striking everywhere. I walk over to the destroyed dummy, and retrieve my dagger. I place it back on the side, and give a court bow.

"Thank you, miss Hart. You may go now." The head Gamemaker says, her expression unreadable. I walk out of the double door on the other side of the room. I let out a breath I was unaware I was holding, and look back into the room. They boy from 11's just come in, and is giving his introductions. I turn away, and walk down the hall, finding an elevator at the end. I walk in, and press the number 10 button. The door closes, and a beep sounds out. The elevator moves up, then stops. An artificial voice sounds out.

"You have now reached floor ten." the doors open, and I step out. I'm in the hallway, outside the doorway right next to my room. _So that's what was behind it..._

I walk into the dining room, and find Hunter, our escort, and our mentor, all sat on the sofa, watching the television. Right now, the Capitol's seals on there, the anthem playing. Suddenly, the screen switches to the two announcers for the games, Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith.

"Hello, Panem! And welcome to the sixty eighth annual Hunger Games! Tonight, we'll be seeing the training scores our Gamemakers have given the tributes after three days of careful evaluation. Now, for those who are unfamiliar, this is how the training scores work. Each tribute is given a score between one and twelve; one being the lowest possible score, and twelve being the highest. Now, without further ado, the training scores!" The screen switches to a picture of the boy from 1.

"Ebony Amaranth, with a score of ten!" Ten. He's a Career, so it's not surprising.

"Emerald Glitters, with a score of nine!" It is surprising that she got a nine. District 1 usually always has tens.

"Nicholas Darwick, with a score of ten!" Another high scoring Career. Lets hope it's just them with high scores.

"Ariella Grayson, with a score of eight!" Now that is surprising. Careers from 1 and 2 never get scores that low.

"Veris Sphene, with a score of six!" Typical outlier score. Nothing interesting.

"Magnum Flowes, also with a score of six!" At least Magnum got a decent score.

"Ryder Bristen, with a score of eight!" Quite good for District 4. They usually get six to eights.

"Annemarie LaMarcus, with a score of seven!" Still, average for a Career from 4.

"Scott Brindle, with a score of three!" Three. That's low, even for outlier standards. With a score that low, nobody will sponsor him.

"Maia Kentner, with a score of seven!" Seven. Slightly above average.

"Tyler Hawes, with a score of four!" Quite low, but considering his age, it's not that bad.

"Alanna Pyre, with a score of seven!" A twelve year old with a score of seven. That's new.

"Kitro Token, with a score of five!" Another average score.

"Maple Barkley, with a score of six!" Nothing special.

"Flax Baize, with a score of four!" Quite low, but still in the expected range.

"Quinna Relling, with a score of five!" Average yet again.

"Aaron Marksly, with a score of five!" The standard district 9 score.

"Ella Vac, with a score of six!" Another high scoring twelve year old.

"Hunter Ruiz," Everyone goes silent, "With a score of eight!" Everybody claps and I give Hunter a high five.

"Nikki Hart," I hold my breath, "With a score of eight as well!" I run into Hunter, and hug him.

"Good job." He says.

"Same to you." I reply, focusing on the screen again.

"Kyle Duran, with a score of six!" A good score for a poorer district, but at least it isn't too bad.

"Afya Zahirah, with a score of nine!" I choke on my breath at that. I barely recall seeing the girl in training, yet she managed to pull of with a Career worth score. That has to be one of the better scores from District 11.

"Tobias McHaden, with a score of seven!" Quite good for District 12, but I'm still in awe of that girl from 11 with that nine.

"And lastly, April Holme. With a score of seven too!" Quite a good year for 12 this year. The show ends with Caesar reminding everyone that tomorrow, he'll be interviewing the tributes, and the anthem plays, the seal showing yet again.

Eight. I begin to laugh ecstatically. Me, with an eight! Judging by Hunter's expression, he's also pleased.

"Now the two of you should get some sleep. It's a big, big day tomorrow. You have your interview with Caesar Flickerman." Our escort says. She's right, this is the last chanve to earn sponsors. I get off the sofa, and go to my room, the smile still plastered on my face. I can't believe I did so well, I was expecting a five or a six.

Maybe the odds are finally going in my favour.


	10. Leaving Paradise for Death

**Ebony Amaranth, 18, District 1 Tribute**

I wake up, the sun shining through the window. I'm still in a good mood from last night. I received the highest score this year; ten. It'd be even better if I didn't have to share that score with Nick, but I'm happy I have a good score. It's much better than Cris' score in his games, he only got a five. I look at my bed, to find that the training outfit isn't there. Oh, right. Today's the day of the interviews; tomorrow the Games begin. It only feels like yesterday when I arrived here in the Capitol. Has it already been five days? I walk to the closet and pick out a simple outfit, then walk out of my room. I walk down the hall, and into the dining room, to the breakfast banquet. Emerald's sitting, eating some fruit, and Twinkle, Emerald's mentor, is drinking an energy drink.

"Morning Ebony. Any sign of your brother this morning?" Twinkle says, finishing her drink.

"No," I say, "He's probably still asleep, knowing him." She mutters something under her breath, before getting up.

"Excuse me for a moment." She walks out of the room, towards the bedrooms. I hear a loud banging.

"Hey, Cris! Get up, you lazy slob! You have to prep your brother for the interviews!" I can hear Twinkle yelling at him. Finally, a groan emanates from his room, and he stumbles out, wearing a bath robe. "Really?" Twinkle groans, "You could have at least had the decency to put some clothes on first."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I _bothering_ you again?" He says, letting out a chuckle.

"Just, get dressed, alright?" Twinkle snaps, "Or I'll ensure you and Ebony switch places in the Games. The two of you look similar enough, so they won't know the difference. Who knows, it may be funny watching you get skewered by a twelve year old." Twinkle chuckles herself at her statement. Sighing, Cris saunters back to his room, shutting the door. Less than a minute later, he re-emerges, looking like he just threw the first items of clothing he could find on, which he probably did.

"There, _happy_?" He says, glaring at Twinkle. I see Emerald supress a giggle at the scene that's playing out in front of her. I don't blame her, it is funny.

"Alright, now down to business," Twinkle says, "The interviews. Both of you will spend the day with your mentor as they coach you for the interviews; Ebony, you're with Cris. And Emerald, you're with me." Of course. Of all people to coach me, it had to be my brother. I just sigh, and take a sip from a glass of water.

"Okay, so now to choose how we'll go about presenting you." Cris says, studying me intently. "You're not big enough for the intimidating angle; you have the wrong body type. The romantic angle's a no go, and the sympathy card doesn't work with a Career." he stops talking, and begins to go over something in his head. "That's it! We'll go for the charismatic, likeable guy look."

"Really? You've known me for eighteen years, yet you had a hard time figuring out how I should present myself tonight?" I say, in disbelief.

"No, it's just that," he trails off, his eyes darting around the room, "Never mind. So, let's see how likeable you really are."

We practice the angle, me cracking jokes, and flashing smiles, and Cris' hilarious impression of Caesar Flickerman. We continue for several hours, until I see Cris beginning to grow tired.

"Wanna take a break?" I say.

"Yeah, why not. Let's grab some lunch and try again afterwards. I don't know about you, but I'm starving." We walk out of the room, and head to the dining room. I sit at the table, and Emerald and Twinkle appear.

"So, what's Emerald's angle for the interview?" I ask.

"We're going for sly and elusive." Twinkle says, looking at Emerald. She nods in confirmation.

"Well Ebony's going for the charismatic appeal." Cris says.

"That's good. I can see him pulling it off well."

"Same with Emerald." The conversation dies out as we begin to eat lunch; A roast chicken with vegetables. It reminds me of dad's cooking, but this one's much more flavourful. Emerald's also enjoying the food; she's almost entirely gulped down the vegetables, but she's not touched the chicken. Probably saving the best for last, I suppose. Once I finish my food, a blinding rainbow appears in the doorway. Oh great, our escort.

"I need Ebony and Emerald to come with me. There's been a change in schedule, and the interviews are taking place earlier than planned. Come on you two!" She drags us out of our seats, and towards the hallway, Emerald's chicken untouched. We go into the elevator, and it stops as soon as it starts, taking us to the ground floor. We step out, and walk down another hallway to the main lobby. I haven't seen this place since the chariot parade. We walk across the shiny floor, and outside. The sun's blazing down, and the temperature's high. We walk down the street, the crowd going wild, and climb into a car.

"Now, you'll be having your interviews on the other side of town, so we'll have to get here via the car. Feel free to acknowledge the crowd, just don't get them too fired up." Our escort says as we drive through town. The golden buildings shine brilliantly in the summer sun, and the citizens cheer and wave as we drive by. I wave out of one window, and Emerald waves out of the other. After driving through several crowded streets, we arrive at a massive golden building, which looks like a larger, more extravagant version of the justice building. We stop outside, and we get out, walking on the red carpet into the building. The front room alone is larger than the whole of the training centre; you could probably fit it in three times over. Our escort takes to an elevator, and we go up. It looks like a replica of the remake centre, complete with twenty four rooms. I'm pushed into the first door on the left, and Emerald on the right.

I look around the room. It is exactly the same as the remake centre, down to the positioning of the items. The door opens again, and my prep team stumbles in.

"Ah, Ebony! We've had a sneak peek at your interview outfit, and it's marvellous!" One of them says, and they all clap. "Well, let's get down to business!" They pull my clothes off, and put me in a tub full of various lotions, which they proceed to rub all over me. It leaves me feeling as if I was pinched all over, which isn't the best of feelings. After that's over with, they walk out, and my stylist walks in.

"Good afternoon, Ebony." He says, holding a bag, probably containing my interview outfit. He puts it on the side, and begins to thoroughly inspect my body.

"Good, your prep team did a good job." He says, retrieving the outfit, and pulls it out of the bag. It's a midnight black suit lined with jewels. It's not as gaudy as the chariot outfit, but it's still a bit too flashy for my tastes. I put it on, and my stylist checks it for any flaws.

"Perfect," he says, "Now let's get to the interviews." We go into the elevator at the back of the room, and go down. I can hear the blasting fanfare that indicates the start of the interviews. Caesar Flickerman walks onto the stage, waving at the crowd. His hair's still the colour of stone, but with a bit of glitter and a different style, it looks like Capitol fashion.

"Good afternoon, Panem!" The crowd breaks out into applause, clapping and cheering. "And welcome, to the sixty eighth HUNGER GAMES!" He sits in the interviewer's seat, and grabs a microphone. "Tonight, we get to meet our tributes, so lets give it up for miss Emerald Glitters, from District 1!" The crowd goes wild, and Emerald gets out of her seat in the waiting area, and walks on stage, waving to the crowd.

"So Emerald, how do you feel about being one of the lucky district representatives for this year?" He asks as Emerald sits in the hot seat.

"Well, I have exactly one word to describe my entire experience from the moment I stepped on the reaping stage back home in District 1; Amazing! The Capitol's absolutely exquisite, and the training's been fabulous!" The crowd cheers.

"So I take it you're in with the Career alliance then?" Caesar asks her, still smiling.

"Yes, I may have gotten a low score, but I'm still an invaluable member of the alliance!" She's right. The Careers consist of me and her, our arrogant leader Nick, his sulky district partner, and the lovey-dovey couple from 4. Some great and powerful alliance we are.

"So, about that score. Nine's pretty high. So, can you let us in on what your special skill is?" Emerald giggles.

"Oh, Caesar, you know if I tell you, my super secret skill won't be a secret anymore!" They both let out a chuckle, and a buzzer sounds, indicating that their time is up.

"Well, that's all for Emerald, but will her special skill shine through in the arena? Give it up one last time for Emerald Glitters!" The crowd goes wild, and she returns to her seat next to me.

"And now, for our next guest. Some of you may know of his family's legacy, but for those who don't, here's Ebony Amaranth!" I get out of my seat, and walk onto the stage. I face the cheering crowd as they yell my name out.

"Ah, Mr Amaranth. I'm okay with calling you that, right?" Caesar begins.

"It's fine." I reply, shaking his hand.

"So, Mr Amaranth. I can safely say we've been waiting since the sixty second Games to see you here!" The crowd nods in approval. "You do remember you brother's interview, don't you?"

_"So, Cris. Being a victor's child surely won't go unnoticed in the Games. And since you already live a rich life, what are you fighting for?" Caesar asked my brother, flashing his brilliant smile to the audience._

_"Well, there is my little brother, Ebony. He's twelve, and has just gone into Career training." Cris said, looking at Caesar, who was trying his hardest to suppress a laugh at Cris' ridiculous shoes._

"I do." I say.

"Well then let's repeat the question. Ebony, being in a family of victors means you're already wealthy. So then, is there someone back home you're fighting for?" I go over the list of people in my head. There's my family, but they won't be affected by my death, they've experienced it too much. Come to think of it, almost everyone I know is quite apathetic. Except for one person.

"Well, there is someone." I begin.

"Who?" Caesar asks, the crowd holding its breath.

"It's my training partner. We're very close." I say, and Caesar flashes a toothy grin.

"Close, eh?" Caesar says, too suggestively for my liking.

"No, not like that. She's more of a sister than anything." I quickly let out.

"So it's a _she_, is it?" Somehow, Caesar's grin has grown wider, and I can feel the blood rush to my cheeks. Thank goodness that I can't see Topaz's reaction.

"Well whatever it is, you win, you go home, and you see her again. Simple enough."

"You're right Caesar, it is that simple." We shake hands one last time, and the buzzer sounds out. I get up, and the crowd cheers one last time. I slump back in my chair, and watch as the interviews fly by, everyone becoming less and less enthusiastic about them. Thank goodness I'm not one of the tributes from District 12. I watch as the last interview draws to a close.

"Give it up one last time for Tobias Mchaden from District 12!" The boy from 12 walks back to his seat, seeming relieved that his interview has finally drawn to a close.

"And that concludes the interviews! Be sure to get ready, for tomorrow, the Games begin!" Caesar says, and the crowd regains all of its enthusiasm. The anthem plays throughout the room, and we all rise. Once it finishes, all twenty four of us are guided backstage, where we meet with our escorts. Me and Emerald quickly find our unicorn, and walk over to her.

"That was excellent you two! Emerald, so full of confidence, and Ebony, the secretive romance will ensure the sponsors flock by the thousands!" She kisses our foreheads, and leads us outside, to our car. Night has fallen, and the city is lit up by the millions of light from the various buildings. It really is stunning. I wonder why the Capitol doesn't let the victors live here. After all, we're obviously above the district citizens. I understand the victors with children going to the districts for the reapings, but those without kids, it's not like the victors are being reaped, now is it? We drive through the streets, loud music playing outside, and countless people throwing street parties. And to think, I'll be the one they're celebrating in a few days. A small smile slowly etches itself on my face. We turn another corner, and we're on the street with the magnificent training centre just ahead. We stop just outside it, and we climb out of the car. We walk through the main entrance, and to one of the many elevators. Other districts are also using the other elevators. We get to the last vacant one, when the escort from district 6 steps in at the exact same time we do.

"Do you mind if we share?" He asks our escort.

"Of course, it is proper manners, after all." The two from 6 step in, and the doors close.

"Hey!" I turn to see the brown haired boy from 6 poking me, a grin bigger than Caesar's on his face. "You're a Career, right? Is it like some club? Oh, can I join? I love clubs!" I clench my fists.

_Not now, Ebony. Tomorrow, you can rip this kid limb from limb._

"Tyler, shut it. For the love of Panem, just shut your mouth." I see his district partner say through clenched teeth.

"But Alanna, they're in a club, and I'm not in! I was in all the clubs back home. There were only five, but that's beside the point!"

"Look kid, you'd better listen to your district partner, or you'll end up dying before we even get to the arena." I say, and I see his partner shake her head, and I actually feel sympathetic for a moment. I have no idea how she has managed to endure the past six days. I hear a beep, and a monotone voice speaks.

"You have now arrived at training floor one." I step out, followed by Emerald and the rainbow explosion, leaving District 6 alone. Thank goodness I don't have to hear that kid again. We make our way to the dining room, and I grab two full roast birds, and a bucket load of vegetables. Emerald also takes a large meal; two massive bowls of rice. I guess we both want to store as much food as possible for the Games. Once we've both finished, our escort tells us to go to bed.

"Hey, where are Cris and Twinkle?" Emerald asks.

"They're in the mentor control centre, setting up for the Games. They'll be here to see you off tomorrow, though." She says, and I walk off to my room. I close the door, pull my clothes off, and crawl into bed, suddenly exhausted from the day's events.

I wake the next morning, the sun streaming in through my window. I stretch, and get out of bed. I walk over to the shower, and turn it on, soaking myself with the soaps. I might as well make the most of it, since I doubt there'll be working showers in the arena. I step out, dry myself, and put on a simple t-shirt and shorts; the same outfit I wore before the reaping. I open my door, and make my way to the dining room. Everyone's present, but the mood is depressing. Of course, at least one of us will be dead within the next couple of weeks, and as awful as it is, I hope it's Emerald. I grab a chair, and begin to eat several slices of toast, and a massive bottle of water, to ensure I'm sustained for that little bit longer. We remain in silence for about fifteen minutes, until our rainbow unicorn escort stands.

"Well, it's time to go." She says, her usual peppiness all but gone. Me and Emerald stand, and Cris grabs my shoulder.

"Look, bro. Just be careful out there, and don't rely on luck to help you. And most of all, don't get yourself killed." I see a single solemn tear drip down his face. I pull him in for a hug, and he quickly breaks off.

"We have to go to our control room. Otherwise, you'll have a hundred undelivered sponsor gifts waiting for you." Twinkle walks out of the room, towards the main elevator, and Cris follows.

"Good luck," He begins, "To the both of you. District 1'd better have a victor this year." He says, the elevator closing, and he vanishes from sight. Our escort then takes us to the back of the room, and opens the elevator there. We step in, and it shuts.

"Now, the hovercraft that'll take you there is outside the back of the training centre. You'll walk under it one at a time, and you'll be pulled up into one of the twenty four sections, and given your tracker." I listen to the last ramblings of the unicorn woman that one of us will hear, and the elevator opens. I step outside, the sun blinding. I see the massive hovercraft outside, and walk under it. Emerald follows, and we're suddenly being lifted by two seperate beams.

"See you at the Cornucopia." She says as I'm pulled in, a woman dressed in white helping me up. I take a seat near the window, and she jabs a syringe into my arm; the tracker. She pulls the syringe out, and walks through another door. I look out of the window. This'll be the last time I see the Capitol, at least until I return. If I return. The sudden thought that I might die sends a shiver down my spine. The hovercraft lifts up, and I look at the Capitol. It truly is a work of art. The hovercraft then moves forward, at an unbelievably fast pace, the magnificent city becoming a golden blur. I look as the rolling green fields below fly by. Which direction are we going anyway? It doesn't matter though, it won't affect the Games in any way. The windows suddenly black out. We must be close. The massive vehicle begins to shudder as it lands. A door opens, and I walk out. I'm met by my stylist standing in the doorway.

"I'll take you to the launch room, just follow me." He says. I follow him out, and into a room. It's small and grey, with a bench, countdown clock, and a launch tube. That is all. My stylist walks out, and I sit on the bench, watching the clock count down. Ten minutes to go. I watch two minutes tick away when my stylist returns, holding some clothing. The arena outfit.

"Put this on." He says, and I take the outfit, and put it on. A tight fitting short sleeved shirt, with black pants, and running boots. At least the outfit will give a clue about the climate. Probably anywhere from mild to boiling hot. A voice rings out.

"One minute to launch." I hand my other clothes to my stylist, and step in the tube.

"Good luck." He says, his voice devoid of emotion. The tube closes down, cutting me off from him. He then flashes me one last Capitol grin, and the platform begins to rise. This is it. Let the Games begin.

And may the odds be ever in my favour.


	11. A Game of Wits

**Alanna Pyre, 12, District 6 Tribute**

The platform rises, my stylist's hideous face still plastered in my mind. _No, you must enter this with a clear head if you are to come out alive._ The platform stops moving, and I'm in a black glass tube. I try peering through, but I can't make anything out on the other side. I hear a low voice echo around the arena; the countdown. Panic creeps into my very being as the countdown announces twenty seconds left. This isn't good. I can't see the arena, or my positioning. All I know for sure is that I'm facing the Cornucopia.

**5**. I take a deep breath, and prepare myself to sprint blindly towards the supplies.

**4**. I just hope that I'm not positioned between Careers. But the glass prevents me from seeing who I'm between.

**3**. A though occurs to me. With these tubes, it's impossible for the landmines to be set off. And the Gamemakers wouldn't waste their time planting mines that won't be used.

**2**. This means that the mines are elsewhere, but still close enough to be detonated.

**1**. I tense up as I think of the one place that they could be. Suddenly, a low gong rings out, and the glass shatters.

Sand. That's the first thing I register. I look straight ahead, and I see the Cornucopia sitting near what appears to be the ocean. So we're on a beach. I don't have time to figure anything else as I see the boy from 1 run towards me. I sprint forwards, towards the golden horn. I look around the floor. Normally there are supplies littered around the Cornucopia, but this year, they're all piled at the mouth. I see the girl from 4 run towards the mouth of the Cornucopia, when an explosion sounds out. A ring of detonations explodes around the Cornucopia, sending supplies, and parts of the girl, raining down. The smoke clears, and I still see the supplies. I dart towards them, my heart beating at a hundred miles an hour, my only thought to survive. I've almost made it when a massive force slams me into the soft sand. I look up, and see the boy from 2 pinning me down, a knife in hand. When did he get this? As he draws the blade closer, I grab a handful of sand, and throw it in his eyes. Temporarily blinded, he lets go, and I make a break for the Cornucopia. Already the tributes' blood has stained the once pristine sand, and I leap over the headless body of the boy from 3. I look ahead, and see the rest of the Careers at the golden horn, throwing countless weapons at the now fleeing tributes. I see a trident strike the auburn haired boy from 8 in the back, and he falls to the ground. I can't make it to the supplies without being slaughtered by the Careers. Unless...

They all turn to the girl from 10 as she runs for her life, but isn't fast enough to outrun a spear. Whilst they're distracted, I fall to the floor. I see a spear on the floor, and grab it. I lift up my shirt, and place the weapon inside, giving the impression it impaled me. I let my features relax, and close my eyes, remaining motionless. The screaming dies down until there is only silence. I hear laughter. It must be the Careers.

"Oh yeah! That was awesome! You should have seen the look on that twelve year old's face when I sliced her head open!"

"Well, you should have heard the scream from that girl from 8! It was so high pitched and desperate!"

Suddenly, I hear an explosion. The cannons, telling us how many tributes have perished. They sound out for a minute or so, and I count ten. Ten tributes dead in the bloodbath. Just under half of us gone in the first fifteen minutes. I open one eye, and see the Careers collecting their weapons off the corpses. I hear footsteps near me, and shut my eyes. I feel the spear being pulled out from under my shirt, and I hear the Career walk away from me.

"That all the weapons?"

"Yeah. The hovercraft'll be here in a moment. Let's clear out, and find some more tributes!" I hear excited yelling, and I open my eyes to see them run off into the dense trees on the other side of the beach. _Now..._

I spring up, and dart towards the Cornucopia. I look inside the golden horn. It's filled to the brim with swords and backpacks. I grab two backpacks, a few knives, and a bottle of water. I put the water and all but one knife in the bags, and sling them over my shoulder. I look around at my surroundings. The ocean's behind me, and there's a dense forest ahead. I see a mountain in the background, and a few tiny islands just out in the water. There'll probably be a fresh water source somewhere, and some type of natural shelter. I look straight ahead, and decide on reaching the mountain. I'll have a good view of everything from up there, so I will be able to see if any attackers are approaching. But before I can get anywhere, I'll have to go through the forest. I walk across the beach, stepping over the bodies littered about. I walk over the armless corpse of the boy from 12, and past the lifeless boy from 7. I step into the forest, overwhelmed by the green. I continue onwards, moving further into the dense forest. I finally reach a clearing, and stop to catch my breath. It's late afternoon. I continue forward, seeing several strange insects on the plants, probably poisonous. The oversized leaves are dripping with some sort of sticky liquid, from the looks of it.

Suddenly, I hear something. I whip my head back to see a small rodent of sorts. The word squirrel springs to mind. But these are different. They have a thin layer of skin joining their arms and legs, and they're a bright gold. More float down from the trees, eyeing me up with their massive dark eyes. I take a step backwards, and they explode into action. They throw themselves at me, pinning me to the ground. I grab one of the small beasts, pulling it off me. It bites down on my hand, blood flowing. This sets something off in the others, and they sink their teeth into me as well, sending sharp pain running through my body. I roll over, crushing a few as their limp bodies fall to the floor, their oversized fangs still coated in my blood. I leap up, and run, a couple still clinging on to me. I suddenly trip, tumbling down a steep slope, losing one of my bags as the squirrels ravage it. I ram into a tree at the bottom of the hill, slamming my back hard. It's hurt, but not broken. I sit up, making sure I'm not surrounded again. It then comes back to me, what those beasts were. I learned about them in school; they're a muttation used by the Capitol in the rebellion to attack the rebels from above. They were also used in the Hunger Games once, the second Quarter Quell, with 48 tributes instead of the usual 24. The odds would be sourly against me if I was in that Games. I get up, and scale the tree I slammed into. I reach the top, and sit on a wide and secure branch. The sun's nearly gone down, and I see a faint glow coming from the mountain. For a moment, I think I can smell sugar, but it must be exhaustion kicking in. Judging by the lack of cannons, no other tributes died after the initial bloodbath. Which means I still have thirteen other tributes to outlive. I sigh, and open my remaining bag. I find my bottle from earlier, still full, a bag of dried fruit, a roll of tape, half a box of matches, a half cracked knife, an arrow, and a jacket several sizes too large.

Suddenly, trumpets blare out throughout the arena. I quickly recognise the anthem, and look as the seal appears in the sky. Now I'll get to see who perished in the bloodbath. First up is the boy from 3, the one that was decapitated, then the girl from 4, that set off the mines surrounding the Cornucopia. The boy from 5, the boy from 7, both from 8, both from 9, the girl from 10, and the boy from 12. Which leaves almost all the Careers, and several outliers. I grab my bottle, and take a sip. I then open the bag of dried fruit, eating a handful. I grab my cracked knife, and use the roll of tape to tape the handle and blade together. It won't hold forever, but it'll allow me to use it as a projectile.

A yawn escapes my lips, and I realise just how tired I am. I look around again; the Cornucopia's out of sight, and I'm roughly halfway through the forest. Using the jacket, I tie myself to the branch, and close my eyes. I'm just beginning to drift off when one though invades my mind. Tyler managed to survive the bloodbath, which means he'll probably be looking for me, and it's wrong to not try to find your district partner if they survived the bloodbath. And if I just ignore him, my sponsor count'll drop to zero. I sigh, and feel my eyes grow heavy. Tomorrow, I'll figure out a way to get out of this, but for now, sleep is my only priority. I shut my eyes, and slip into the realm of slumber. After all, this could be the last time I get some sleep in my life.


	12. Burnout

**Maia Kentner, 16, District 5 Tribute**

I look to the slowly darkening sky as the seal of Panem vanishes from the sky, not to be seen again until this time tomorrow. Ten have perished. A high number, but that still means that thirteen other tributes are out there, ready and willing to kill me. I wrap myself up in the massive leaves that adorn the tree, and shut my eyes. I wake choking a few hours later. The first hints of sunrise are showing over the horizon, and a steady black stream of smoke is rising from the edge of the forest, near the beach. I hear laughter and leaves crunching under the weight of someone. The Careers.

"Let's burn this one next, Nick!" I hear one of them say. I look, and see a tree only a few yards away from me become engulfed in fire. Suddenly, I remember the sticky residue on the leaves. It isn't poison, like I thought, it's oil. A flaming section of the tree flies out, sending the top of my tree into a smoking hot spiral of flames. My hands fly to the rope fastening me to the tree, and I pull it off, the heat from the fire causing sweat to flow down my face. I hop down, just as a flame licks my arm, sending an intense pain coursing throughout it.

I land on the floor, and an arrow flies by my head. I turn to see the girl from 2 loading her bow again, and I run. The thickness of the foliage allows the fire to spread as fast as I run, cutting off several escape routes. I look behind me. The Careers haven't pursued me. A thick cloud of smoke engulfs me, and I begin to choke, the toxins filling my lungs. I begin to cough, the lack of oxygen making me feel dizzy. I stumble forward, leaning on a tree for support, my only thought to survive. I walk forwards, away from the heat and the black clouds, and fall to the floor, choking. My lungs are burning, my throat stinging. This is how I'm going to die. I curl up in a ball, light headed and vulnerable, willing for death to come sooner. But it doesn't come. I'm still alive. I crawl forward ever so slightly, my lungs still on fire. I look up. The dense canopy of leaves has burned to a pile of ash floating on the slight breeze, the air whipping it around, like a breath of fresh air. Fresh air. I inhale sharply. Intense pain fills my chest, but air is reaching my lungs. Shakily, I stand up, and survey the damage.

The Careers have destroyed the forest. Very few trees actually remain, all of them just blackened logs that stand upright, or not at all. I can just make out the Cornucopia's golden shine in the distance, and the looming mountain towering over the island. So far, that seems to be the safer place to be. I grab my bag, sliding it on my back, and begin to hobble through the burned forest, constantly looking out for any sign of another tribute. The area is eerily silent, not even a gust of wind is around. It's so silent, I feel self conscious breathing. I take another painful step forward, sounding like the heaviest creature in existence.

Suddenly, a piercing scream cuts through the air; a female's, and close. I hear laughter, and the screaming grows louder. One last scream, and a cannon blasts. The entire forest is suddenly filled wih the sound of footsteps on the dead leaves.

"Hey, there's another!" I see one of the Careers badly hiding behind a tree. I pull my pack up, and run.

"Quickly! She's getting away!"

I dive into a bush, just as one of them pass by, their heavy tread seemingly the loudest thing I've ever heard. Suddenly, they stop, and turn, facing the bush. My heartbeat begins to go through the roof as they take a step towards me. I hold my breath, and peer out, to see a dark hand grab a sword. It jabs into the bush, missing my head by mere inches. I edge to the far side of the bush, and spot something. A small plant, shaped vaguely like a mushroom, but a bright orange. What is intriguing, though, is the purple cloud of spores emanating from it. A spider crawls past me, and walks around the strange fungus. It shoots a cloud of spores right at it. The spider does a strange flip, and its entire left side goes limp. It tries to crawl away, but it freezes as the paralysed half shrivels up into its body. It flails about, trying to move, but the remaining side goes limp too, and it shrivels into a melted pile formerly known as a living creature. If I were to use this plant as a weapon...

Pain courses through my shoulder as the sword strikes. I turn and see my attacker, and let out a gasp of surprise. It's the boy from 11, his golden eyes glistening with bloodlust. I roll out of the way as he brings his sword down again, striking the mushroom. A purple cloud spews out, enveloping his arm. It's thrown into a spasm fit, and flails around, as if the bones had just melted away. His hand goes limp, followed by the rest of his arm, and he cries out in pain, dropping his sword to the the floor. He staggers towards me, and I leap to my feet. He grabs me by the throat with his one good hand, and I look at his other arm. The flesh is bubbling, and looks as if it's melting. I resist the urge to throw up last night's food.

"Look what you've done," he growls, tightening his grip. I gasp, but no air comes in. Panic fills me as I begin to suffocate. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you." No. This can't be how I die.

I move my leg back, and swing it forward, kneeing him right in the groin. He lets out an unearthly squeal, and lets me go, staggering back, in complete agony. He falls backwards into another bush, and a mass of purple explodes out of the bush. There must be a whole colony of those mushrooms there. I run out of there as the cloud rises, and the boy from 11 cries out in pain. I trip on something, and fall on my back, watching as the purple cloud vanishes into the blue sky above. I get to my feet, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. I begin to walk away, but something strikes the back of my legs, and I drop to the floor. The boy from 11 towers over me, half his face sagging, his legs looking like they're on the verge of falling apart.

"Think you could escape, did you?" I'm trembling with fear as his sword dangles over my throat. "Well, back in 11, I used to walk straight through nests of tracker jackers, and came out far worse than I am right now. So your mushroom plan failed, you pathetic little-"

An arrow flies seemingly from nowhere, burying itself in his eye. He falls back, and I roll out of the way of the falling sword. He falls to the ground, and I look at the arrow. There's a mushroom attatched to it. A massive purple cloud suddenly bursts out, covering his entire body. He screams, and I watch helplessly as his face melts, becoming a lump of goo attatched to his skull. His entire body convulses, until his limbs go limp, and he stays there, motionless. A cannon.

Suddenly, a figure emerges from the foliage. His district partner, Afya, if I remember rightly.

"Traitorous fiend." She mutters as she retrieves the arrow, the now deflated mushroom sliding off it. "I'm sorry about that. Turns out he was planning on backstabbing me; he was in with the Careers." she says this coldly, wiping the arrow on her jacket as she looks at her district partner's corpse.

"How come you saved me?" I ask her, trying to ignore the intense pain in my shoulder, but failing.

"Well, I find it wrong when a tribute from an outlying district joins the Careers, and I didn't want him to kill anyone else. That, and," she trails off, seeming unsure about something.

"I would like to propose an alliance."


	13. Cracks on the Surface

**Magnum Flowes, 15, District 3 Tribute**

_Boom_. Another cannon sounds out. Already two tributes have perished today, which leaves twelve tributes remaining. In the first twenty four hours, half of us have been killed. I crawl further back into the small cave I found last night, and grab my bag. I've already eaten half the food and drunk nearly all the water. At this rate, my supplies will have run out by tonight.

"Just gotta be more resourceful Magnum, is all." I mutter to myself as I put my bag on. I look out of my cave. Footprints are embedded into the sand, ones that weren't there earlier today. Someone's nearby. Every muscle in my body tenses up as fear threatens to engulf me. What if it was the Careers, looking for another helpless tribute to kill? I try to discard the thought, and step out.

The midday sun blinds me immediately, and a few beads of sweat begin to form on my forehead. It's definitely hotter than yesterday. I look hopelessly at my empty bottle. I need water, and fast. I look behind me at the calm, almost hypnotic ocean. No, I can't drink saltwater. Not without some way to remove the salt at least. I look at the footprints. It seems whoever they belong to had the same idea as me. They then turn around, and vanish into the forest. Of course, there's always a fresh water supply somewhere, usually hidden. And what better place than the thick, dense forest to hide it. Where there could be tributes laying in wait, prepared to kill me. I pull my knife out, and clutch it close to my chest. I take one step forward, into the dense green in front of me.

I hear a twig snap, and let out a yelp. Someone's close, there has to be. I lift my foot, and see the stick underfoot. Just me.

"Keep a hold of yourself Magnum, we don't want you going crazy." I tell myself, and walk through the thick wall of leaves, my hand wrapped around my knife, prepared to kill. But I'm not. I couldn't kill, especially anyone in this arena. We're all the same; innocent kids, forced here against our wills. Even the Careers; just kids, just like me. Just innocent kids, forced to kill, and live with the guilt of taking another life, knowing you've destroyed a family.

I collapse to the floor, a wave of sobs wracking me. I can't do this, I can't be expected to kill another, I just can't. My throat releases another wave of tears, and I hold my knife tighter, as if it's life itself. I curl up, into the fetal position, and begin to shudder.

"Macro, I'm sorry. I can't do this. I'm sorry!" I choke out, my voice hoarse. "I'm sorry." I repeat, quieter. I look at my knife, its blade reflecting the sunlight. All I'd have to do is plunge the cold metal into my neck, one motion, and I'll be put out of my misery. I lift it up, positioning it, so it'll penetrate my throat.

"I'm so sorry." I say one last time, my voice barely a whisper.

Memories begin to fly by as I prepare to leave this world, for one last goodbye. I remember the time I met Macro for the first time.

I was thirteen, and was making my way back to the abandoned factory I resided in with that month's tesserae. It was freezing cold, the snow up to my knees, visibility so poor I could barely see the streetlights in front of me. But since I knew this place like the back of my hand, I managed to make my way to the street with the factory with relative ease. However, when I made it to the doorstep of the factory, I found him. A boy, no older than ten, curled up and lifeless. Dead. Swallowing up my fear, I rolled him out of the way, when he cried out in pain. I looked back to find he was still alive. Just barely, but living. I helped him up, and brought him in. I shared some of the grain with him, and learned his name; Macro. His parents were killed in a factory explosion five years back. Learning he had no home, I took him in, and we developed a bond that could never be broken.

Except if you happened to be a fifteen year old girl that had their name called out by a fashion challenged freak and forced to fight to the death, killing twenty three other kids, one from your home. Killing, blood, all on your hands. All caused by the primal instinct to not die. Not to be killed by another. The tip of the knife has just begun to pierce my flesh when I hear shouting.

"Hey! That's Magnum!" The voice startles me, leaving a shallow gash across my neck. I look up. It's Hunter, Nikki's partner. Nikki. Another innocent kid lost to this monstrous game. He approaches me, holding a slim sword. The word rapier comes to mind. No, he's going to kill me with that rapier, just like anyone else would. Even though we're all just kids, just innocent kids, forced to play this game. Forced.

"Magnum, are you alright?" he says, holding a hand out, the rapier in his other hand. "Don't worry, you're safe. We're not going to kill you." We?

"Is someone else there?" I ask, my voice weak.

"'Someone' has a name, you know." I see someone else step out of the greenery. Dark hair, olive skin. The Girl from 12. "And don't even think about suicide, that's what the Gamemakers want you to do; playing right into their hands." Hunter takes my hand, and pulls me up, the blood from my wound staining my shirt.

"We should probably clean that," Hunter says, "We have bandages back at our camp. Come on." I follow them through the slick greenery, the smell of soot strong in the air.

We make it to a clearing, and I see two tents set up, alongside a pot that's bubbling over a fire.

"Welcome to our humble abode." April says dryly, picking up a bow. "Well, I'm off to catch some dinner. If I'm not back by tonight, I'm either dying or dead." She loads an arrow, and disappears into the forest.

"So," I begin as Hunter wraps bandages around my neck, "How did you two become allies?"

"Well," He replies, cutting off the roll, "We both wandered into one another whilst mourning our dead partners. Call it a mutual hatred of this sick game." He puts the rest of the roll in his bag. "And she's got quite the sense of humour, always viewing death with a smile." Hunter's right; April has been cracking jokes a lot. Perhaps it's her way of preventing her resolve from cracking. Whatever it is, she's still going strong.

"Hunter," I say softly, "When do you think we're gonna die?" He seems taken aback by this somewhat.

"Excuse me, but what?"

"You heard me, when do you think we're gonna die?" His face contorts into a concerned frown.

"Now Magnum, that's not the right mindframe to have. Think positive. Think that we're gonna live. Think like that, and you won't be driven to do similar things to the stunt you tried to pull off in the woods earlier." I smile, and tell him I'll try to do that. But it's too late; the Games have already put too many cracks in my sanity, and only time will tell when everything will fall apart.


	14. Restoration

**Emerald Glitters, 18, District 1 Tribute**

I munch slowly on the apple, savouring the sweet flavour of the moist red fruit. I finish the apple, and throw it to the floor, taking a sip of my water as I stalk the rich and fertile section of the tropical forest. Yesterday was good; we managed to take out ten tributes within the first twenty minutes; three tributes shy of the record. Oh well, even if I don't get out of here in record time, I'll still give the Capitol a show they won't soon forget.

I raise my spear as a rustling noise sounds out from one of the denser parts of the trees. Perfect, another tribute. It may not be the first kill of the day, but I'll make sure that I don't die soon after, unlike a certain overly confident fool from District 11. I mean, he managed to completely slice the girl from 7's head off, but managed to be killed by toxic mushrooms. But it doesn't matter; we only accepted him after Annemarie's unfortunate early end. The sponsors must have had an aneurism watching the attractive, lovestruck beach babe from 4 get blown up in a matter of seconds. I let out a laugh as I imagine one of the oddly coloured Capitol citizens having a temper tantrum.

"Hi!" I whip around as a figure emerges from the greenery. It's a small boy, with sweeping brown hair and bright green eyes. "You're a Career, right?"

"Yeah," I reply, pointing my spear at him, "And what's it to you?"

"Oh, well, you're like a club, right? And back home, I was in _all_ the clubs! The morphing medicine, bus builders, even the rock painters!"

"Nice story, kid, but what exactly do you want from me besides a trip to the afterlife?" I'm growing impatient now, and my hands are twitching in anticipation of killing this boy.

"Oh, that's right! I want to join the Career club! I've seen them every year on television, and they are so cool! The way they kick butt, and all those presents they get every day; I want to join the fun!" How amusing. This kid thinks that he has any chance of getting in with us. How delusional. After all, he only got a four in training, for crying out loud.

"Tell you what, kid." I flash him a dark grin, "If you can defeat me in a fight, you can join us." His eyes widen, and he breaks into a massive smile.

"I _knew_ you'd let me in!" He pulls out a small slingshot, and loads it with a stone. "Let's go!"

I rush at him with my spear, and gash his arm. His smile fades, and a scream flies out of his mouth. I stab again, this time getting his other arm, and he turns and runs.

"Don't kill me!"

I dart into the bushes, following my prey like the true predator I have to be to win. The kid leaps over the leaves and insects with surprising agility, but I'm faster. I pull a knife from my belt, and throw it at him. It clips his shoulder, and he screams. Suddenly, he darts left, and throws a branch in my face. I hear a thud, and when I remove the plant, he's gone. Brilliant. Not only did I fail to take him down, but I lost a knife as well. At least the others weren't around to see my failure.

"Hey, Emerald!" The sudden sound of Ebony's voice catches me off guard. I turn to find my dark haired district partner cutting through the forest with his sword, sweat glistening off his face.

"What is it, Ebony?" I ask, glancing around. No sign of the kid, and it appears Ebony didn't see my failure. "Well?" Ebony's face suddenly darkens, and his charming charismatic expression vanishes, his face paling.

"Mutts." His voice is barely a whisper, but less than a second later, the bushes explode with life.

Pigs. That's what now surrounds us. Countless pink fleshy creatures, each eyeing us up. But what sets them apart from other swines is on their faces. They have long tusks, made of solid diamond. Beautiful to look at, but deadly. Highly deadly. I raise my spear, and Ebony draws his sword, and we dart towards the intruders. The pigs instantly rush at us, letting out an unearthly squeal as our weapons drive into their stomachs. I thrust my spear into one of them, impaling the creature, whilst Ebony neatly decapitates one, the pink head rolling to the floor, staining the shining weapon a deep crimson, the fluid dripping onto the grass. I hit the floor as one leaps at me, the Mutt missing me entirely, and slamming into Ebony. He flies into a tree, and collapses to the floor, unconscious.

Well, this is grand. I'm still surrounded by a swarm of pigs, and now I have no partner to help me. I hold my spear in one hand, and my knife in the other, and run at one of the pigs. Within no time, I've managed to tear it to shreds, but even more are flowing in from the trees.

"Ebony, get up!" I yell to my unconscious district partner, who's not responding, unsurprisingly. "Come on, get up! We're about to die!" It's not working. He's out cold. A pig leaps at me, its tusks digging into my arm. I scream in agony as the luxurious body features twist and turn, tearing the muscle in my arm apart. Giving in to the pain, I fall to the floor, the pigs quickly swarming around the pool of blood that's now flowing freely from my arm. One of the pigs bends down, and begins to lick at the red fluid, savouring the taste.

Taking advantage of this slight opening, I grab my knife, and drive it through the creature's temple. It squirms and twitches sporadically for a moment, before it falls to the floor, crushing a smaller Mutt with it. With much effort, I climb to my feet, thrusting my spear blindly as I stagger towards Ebony. I manage to make it to him, and shield him with my own body as the pigs advance. I fend off another couple of the Muttations before my energy, and resolve, begins to deteriorate. There are too many of them, and too little of us. We're overpowered. We're probably going to die. Funny how I assumed that me and Ebony would last until the final two, before we engaged in an epic fight with one of us winning, giving District 1 another victor. I didn't expect us to die on the second day, overpowered by pigs. Giving up, I close my eyes, and resentfully accept death.

Suddenly, a loud guttural cry emits from several of the Mutts, and I open my eyes to see arrows raining down from the tree tops onto the hideous creatures. Once they're all nothing but lifeless piles of flesh and bones, Ariella leaps expertly from the trees, landing with agility.

"Seems I've had to save you." She says coldly, retrieving the arrows, quickly filling her two quivers.

"Yeah, I guess so." I reply, standing onto my feet, before motioning to Ebony, "You thing you could help me with Sleeping Beauty over there?"

"Fine." She hooks her bow behind her back, and we both grab Ebony, lifting him. He's heavier than I anticipated, and we both struggle as we carry him through the greenery.

"So," I begin, panting under the strain of my district partner, "How're the others doing?"

"Nick's been setting traps, and Ryder's finally realised that his girlfriend's kicked the bucket."

"So, not very well then."

"Well, more of a lack of productivity than anything." In other words, Nick's doing nothing, and Ryder's going into lock down mode. Wonderful.

We push through the last of the foliage, and make our way onto the warm sandy beach, the waves from the ocean lapping at the far side of the Cornucopia. We walk over to the tents, and place Ebony inside.

"Man, he's heavy." Ariella complains, removing her hands from him.

"At least we don't have to carry him any more." I reply, pulling a canteen of water from my bag, my dried mouth welcoming the cool, refreshing liquid. Ariella has the same idea, and she too drinks from one of the canteens, before we both step out of the warm tent, into the cooler air of the beach. The temperature has certainly risen since yesterday, and I hope that it doesn't get hot enough for things to catch fire without warning.

I walk along the beach, and sit down on the sand, near the shoreline, watching the water push forward, then retreat back, in an almost hypnotic pattern. I imagine that this is the sight that greets the citizens of District 4 every single day. It's much prettier than District 1, with its limited greenery and constant air of superiority. But I'm currently very far away from District 1, glad to be free of it, albeit for a short amount of time.

"You know, Annemarie always loved to sit by the sea, and watch the waves." I turn to see Ryder sit next to me, his bronze hair blowing in the slight breeze, his tan face tear stained. He really has been taking his district partner's death badly. I want to tell him that all the crying in the world won't bring her back, but I don't want to upset him.

"Really? Did she like swimming as well?" I say instead, and a faint ghost of a smile appears on his face.

"Yeah," He replies, "On the weekends, we loved to go down to the beach and go swimming until the sun went down." He stops for a moment, absorbed in some memory, "It was our favourite thing to do."

"Really?" I smile at him, and his expression warms further, "I bet you're really good at it."

"Yeah," Ryder's voice sounds more confident now, "Wanna see?"

"Why not? We have nothing better to do today."

As Ryder undresses to only his undershorts, I see the old him resurfacing from his despair. He hands me his clothing, and jumps into the water. He dives and weaves through the waves as if he is a fish; it's mesmerising to see him flip and spin, the salty spray making his tanned body shimmer in the afternoon light, his hair flying everywhere as he goes under. He then swims towards the sand, riding the wave, and crashing on the beach, barely missing me. He stands up, and smiles in my direction.

"Emerald, that was so fun!" He begins to laugh a little; Ryder's back.

Suddenly, our attention is diverted to a soft beeping sound, and I look up to see a silver parachute floating down, the now setting sun shining its golden rays on it. It lands neatly on the beach, and I pick it up, and see the district emblem on it; District Four.

"For you." I say, handing the parachute over to Ryder. He eagerly accepts it, and opens it up, revealing the gift inside; a large canteen in the shape of a fish.

"Guess the sponsors liked my swimming." He says lightly.

"Either that, or your body." I say, smirking slightly.

"Really? Well Capitol, what do you think of this?" He flexes his bare arms, pretending to show off bulging muscles that don't exist. I begin to laugh at the sight, and Ryder chuckles as well. He grabs his clothes, and throws them on, the fabric sticking to his soaked skin.

"Still attractive?" He muses, and I howl with laughter. With the way his clothing is sticking and dripping, he looks like a drowned rat.

The sun's nearly vanished behind the horizon now, and we return to our respective tents as I look to the sky as the first few notes of the anthem begin to play. As the face of the girl from 7 appears above our heads, I look over to my allies. The Careers are now all mentally stable enough for some killing. I clutch the knife at my belt as Kyle's face vanishes, and we all climb out of our tents as Nick speaks.

"So," A dark smile crosses his face, "Anyone up for a little late night hunting?"


	15. Hopeful Brightness

**Alanna Pyre, 12, District 6 Tribute**

"And you should have seen the way she rushed at me! Swoosh!" I grimace as Tyler pours out his anecdote relating to his close encounter with the Career girl from District 1. She messed his arms up pretty badly, but he seems to be still alive. I guess he should be thankful that he managed to stumble into my hide out whilst running from her, else he might be dead. But the downside to his survival means that we're now stuck in an alliance until one of us dies. Hopefully him before me.

"Yes, Tyler, I get it. It was amazing. Now sit still whilst I get the bandages out." I crawl through the concealing bush, and grab the beaten up backpack I managed to salvage from the squirrels yesterday. I pull it open, and reach a hand in, grabbing the rather generously large roll of bandages. I pull them out, and turn to Tyler. Upon seeing the bandages, his face lights up, and a ridiculous grin plasters onto his face.

"Oh my gosh! Bandages! Back home, I always used to play hospital with my friends! It was so much fun!"

"Yes Tyler, I bet it was." I say flatter than planned. Even whilst loosing a dangerous amount of blood; it's pooling on the floor, he's still as bubbly as he was just over a week ago. I unwrap the roll, and the realisation of what I have to do next fills me with dread and humiliation.

"Tyler, I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt." The words leave my mouth awkwardly, and I feel the blood rushing to my face as Tyler nods, and begins to remove the article of clothing. Of all the times to be freaking out about seeing the other sex in a state of undress, now isn't the time. I hear the shirt drop to the floor, and let out a gasp at the damage caused.

There are two massive gashes, one down each arm, which are releasing a continuous stream of blood down his arm, and even onto his torso. There is another wound, whilst not as large, on the back of his shoulder, that seems to go deeper than the other one; this was where she got him with the knife. There doesn't seem to be any infection, fortunately, but if Tyler strains himself too much, he'll be risking making his wounds worse.

Swallowing my humiliation, I begin to wrap the bandages around Tyler's arms. As soon as I get it around once, he begins to squirm and giggle.

"Stop, please; it tickles!"

As he says the words, I wince as a memory involving a similar situation floods my mind. When I was happier, and didn't have to worry about battling for survival every day. Yet strangely, it was also the day that I learned the concept of the Hunger Games.

* * *

_I stifle my tears as I stagger through the streets of my district, the autumn sun setting, creating a golden light that covers as far as I can see. For a moment, it distracts me from the pain I feel in my arm, but as soon as I think about it, the searing pain flares up, causing me to release a sob. I must look stupid, crying over a small cut on my arm._

_I was playing outside, with my friends; the adults were too busy watching the older children play games on the television, when we started to play dares. My dare was to run up to the top of the tall hill outside of my house really quickly. So I did, and I had almost done it, as well, when I tripped on a loose part of the grass. This caused me to tumble down the hill in a ball of person, grass and mud, and crash into the fence separating us from the village full of big houses. The barbed wire surrounding the fence sliced into my arm, sending it into a lot of pain. After getting over the shock, I stood up, and began to make my way home._

_My arm still hurts like it did when I first caused the injury, so this makes me think it isn't actually just a small cut on my arm. It almost looks like the cut the girl on the TV had. This confuses me; why do so many people play a game that gets them hurt? I know I'll never play a game like that._

_I finally reach my house, and push open the door with my good arm. As soon as I step inside, I realise something's wrong. The house is silent, and empty; undisturbed by everyday life._

_"Hello?" I call out to the emptiness, but as I expected, I'm met with silence. Where are my parents? "Mom? Dad?"_

_Still nothing. A feeling of dread slowly seeps into me. They are always at home. Why aren't they here? I swallow back the tears as I run further into the house, and find that the door to the main room is shut. Tentatively, I press an ear to the door._

_**BOOM**_

_A sound like an explosion rings out, and I let out a scream. What was that? Before I go to find out, the answer presents itself in the form of a sob. My mother's crying. _

_Worried, I burst into the main room to find my parents, and Olyver, my older brother, all hunched around the television. Tears are flowing freely down my parents' faces, and Olyver's trying to comfort my mother._

_"Oly, are Mom and Dad okay?" I ask to my brother, who shakes his head._

_"Listen, Alanna, you remember how our cousin Miles went away last week?"_

_"Yes?" I reply. I know Miles very well. Him and Olyver were born on exactly the same day, which makes them six years older than me. We threw their twelfth birthday party last month._

_"Well, he went into the Game that the big boys and girls go to. You know, the sad one?" I nod. This doesn't sound right, and it probably has something to do with the television. I cross the room, and look at the screen. _

_MILES PYRE, 12, DISTRICT 6 MALE TRIBUTE_

_ELIMINATED: DAY 6, 18:40_

_PLACED 5TH_

_It takes a moment to read it, but when I do, it confuses me. Eliminated? Me and my friends play a game at school where one of us tags the other, and when we're tagged, we're eliminated. So he's not allowed to play the sad game any more? Isn't that a good thing? So why are my parents crying?_

_"Now for the instant replay of that delightful kill by none other than District 1's Jade!" Kill? As in, death? Fear creeps back into me. Why is there death in the sad game? That doesn't sound fun. Suddenly, the words vanish from the screen, and in its place is a pretty field full of colourful flowers. His face has lots of scratches, and he's crying, but his eyes look scared. What's so scary about the flowers? I love picking them on the weekends with my friends._

_"Oly, what's going-"_

_"And here comes Jade, with her signature weapon, the diamond encrusted sword! Kindly donated to her by Aluminus, our lead Career sponsor!" This voice scares me now. Something seems off, and Olyver's face hardens as a pretty girl with black hair runs across the field. But she's screaming, and holding a big shiny knife in her hands. I quickly remember the name; a sword._

_"Oly, what's happening?" I ask again, this time my voice full of urgency._

_"Alanna, look away. Please, look away!" I stand there in shock. Olyver's never mad at me. Something serious must be happening. I try to look away, but when I look back at the television, I find myself unable to move, unable to do anything, except scream._

_The girl has shoved her sword into Miles' chest, and he's screaming. Then, he throws up, but instead of his food, blood flies out, splashing onto the floor. It's disgusting, and terrifying._

_"Oly, she's hurting him!" I yell, as if it'll stop the horrible things happening. But it doesn't, and I look again as she slices into his arm. It falls off, and blood flies everywhere. I'm aware of the tears pouring down my face, but all I can do is stare at the blood as it shoots everywhere. Then, when I think it can't get any worse, she stabs his neck, and his head falls off, and his body falls to the floor. _

_My parents let out a wail that drowns out my own, and I look to Olyver for comfort._

_"Oly, what happened?"_

_"Come with me," He motions to the door, "I have some explaining to do."_

_We walk out of the main room, and into the kitchen. I'm still shaking from what I saw. She used her sword to pull Miles' head and arm off, like my doll, but he was bleeding a lot. Olyver sits down on one of the seats at the table, and I follow._

_"Alanna, it's time I tell you about what you saw." He begins, his voice uneasy. "You know that old people go to heaven when they sleep sometimes?"_

_"Yes." I reply. Grandma went to heaven a few years ago. I was happy for her since she finally managed to move house, but everyone else was sad._

_"Well, what actually happens, is they die." Die? A tightness begins in my chest, and it becomes hard to breathe._

_"Does that mean," I trail off for a moment, sobbing, "Does it mean that Grandma's actually dead?" I really hope the answer is 'no', but Olyver's face is telling me that it's not what I want to hear._

_"Yes, Alanna, she's dead. As in not coming back." My heart sinks, and a fresh wave of tears fly from my eyes. She's really gone. I should have known this; why didn't anyone tell me? "And Miles..."_

_He doesn't need to finish for me to understand what happened to Miles. He's dead. That Jade girl killed him. This sad game suddenly seems a whole lot more terrifying. So when people lose, they die. That's a lot of dead boys and girls every year._

_"Olyver," I start, my voice faltering, "If this game is so bad, why do people watch it?" After all, I only watched it for ten minutes, and what I saw was horrific. I hope I never have to see all of it._

_"Because the Hunger Games are our punishment." Punishment? Why would we be punished? I've never done anything wrong, and Olyver and my parents wouldn't do any wrong either._

_"Oly, why are they called the Hunger Games?" I ask. It is a silly name, after all. The name makes it sound like they are doing something with food, not dying._

_"Because that's one of the Capitol's favourite ways of killing the children who are in the Hunger Games; making them starve to death." He replies, his voice flat, with an underlying tone of anger._

_"Oly, I have one last question," I begin as I formulate a way to say this clearly without crying, "W-Will we ever have to go on the Hunger Games and die like Miles?" My voice catches at the end; saying it makes it sound so much more real._

_"No, Alanna. It's like a lottery. A really bad lottery. And how many people do you know that win a lottery, let alone a bad one?"_

_"None." I reply, suddenly feeling calmer. If it's like the lottery, where you buy a ticket to win a lot of food and money, which we never win, then nobody else I know will go into the Hunger Games._

_Suddenly, Olyver looks at my arm, and notices the cut._

_"Alanna, what happened?" He says, his voice dripping with concern. A flash of pain shoots through it, and I shudder in pain and shock._

_"I was playing dares with my friends when I fell down the hill into the sharp wire on the fence." I reply, breathing through the pain._

_"That's not good," Olyver pauses for a moment, thinking something over, "Wait a minute. I'll just go grab the bandages, and we'll have you better in no time at all." He smiles warmly, and walks out of the room, leaving me alone at the table. I sigh, and gaze at the cracked clock on the wall, watching as the seconds tick by._

_I count thirty seconds by the time Olyver returns, holding one of our two rolls of bandages. He sits back down, and looks at me._

_"Could you hold your arm out for me," He asks as he unwraps the bandages. I comply, and stick my arm out, "Thanks." He smiles, and begins to wrap it around my arm. Almost instantly, I begin to giggle as it makes contact with my arm._

_"Stop, please; it tickles!"_

* * *

Losing myself in the memory, I allow a smile to cross my face, and see Tyler looking at me quizzically.

"Alanna?"

"Yeah?" I reply, returning to wrapping his arms and torso up.

"You kinda spaced out there." My slight happy daze vanishes, replacing with stone cold shock. How could I be so stupid?! We're still rather close to the Cornucopia, and barely two hundred metres from where Tyler was attacked. I shake my head, in an attempt to clear my mind. It doesn't work, the memory is still fresh, but at least I'm somewhat more focused.

I finish wrapping up his arms, and despite the fact that the bandages are quickly soaked with blood, it should hold off infection. But these bandages will only work for about three days tops. So unless we have a sponsor at the ready, Tyler will be at serious risk seventy two hours from now. Just perfect. Not only do I have a serious liability as an ally, I also have one that practically has a countdown timer on his life.

Suddenly, the thought of Tyler dying fills my mind. My imagination begins to play out several various scenarios involving his death, ranging from a simple arrow to the heart, to being brutally dismembered. And for each scenario I think of, the heavier my heart becomes, and it dawns on me that I actually care about him. This sends a wave of panic shooting through my body. This was how Olyver died. He joined an alliance with the boys from 8 and 10, and Elektra and Samuel from 3. When everything fell apart with that horrific Mutt, he ended up sacrificing himself so that the double-crossing pair from 12 and Elektra could escape alive. A twang of remorse stabs in my heart, and I force myself to look at the dense greenery that makes up the bush we're hiding in. It's warm, and gives a sense of security; we're fairly securely concealed in here.

I crawl to the edge of our small hideout, and peer through the leaves, looking at the moonlight illuminated forest. Everything's so still; there's not even as much as a gust of wind as everything remains motionless, like a painting. Although why anyone would ever want to paint the Hunger Games is beyond me.

"Nick, this is _definitely_ where I attacked the kid!"

"You sure, Emerald?"

"Positive! Look, there's the tree where my spear dented, and one of Ariella's arrows is in the bush!"

My heart rate increases as I hear the voices. Careers, and close. Dangerously close.

"Tyler," I begin, feeling the adrenaline beginning to set in, "Tyler, we have to go." I listen again, and hear yelling. "Tyler, the Careers are coming!"

I don't care that I'm now practically yelling; the message has definitely sunken in. Tyler's eyes have widened, and he's rushing to throw his shirt on. I grab one of my bags, and swing it onto my back. Tyler's got his shirt back on now, and I throw the other bag to him. Shakily, he puts it on, and I peer my head out of the bush. Everything still seems still, but then I catch movement.

It's just a little further down the path, barely in sight, but I see it. The boy from District 1, armed with a spear and sword. Suddenly, his head turns in my direction, and I duck back down into the bush.

"How close are they?" Tyler whispers, his eyes widening by the second.

"Very." I shoot back, and motion to the other end of the bush. "Come on. We'll have to take the back exit." Tyler nods, and we both stand up. I peer behind us, and see nothing. Perhaps they've moved on, and found nothing of interest.

Sighing in relief, I move forward, quickly darting into the trees just across from us, Tyler in behind. I'm just about to begin sneaking through the trees, when an arrow stops me from moving any further. I peer behind Tyler, and see all five Careers, staring us down.

Or perhaps I'm an idiot for thinking that the Careers wouldn't thoroughly check an area for anyone hiding.

"Ariella, shoot them!" I hear one of them yell, and that's all the incentive I need. I grab Tyler's hand, and we rush into the tree line, the loud stomping of the Careers just behind us. Judging by the frequency and volume, we're not losing them at all. Two more arrows fly by us, ramming into the nearby trees. My heart is pounding in my head, and every breath is agony.

"Alanna, how much further do we have to run?" Tyler huffs, his lack of breath barely denoting his tone as questioning. I dare to glance behind us, and see the boy from 4, armed with a trident, grinning maliciously.

"I have no idea." I reply back, pulling Tyler sharply to the right as the boy from 4 throws himself at us. He careens into the greenery, and down a sharp slope. We won't be seeing him for a while.

Taking notice that the loud sounds of the Careers have died down, I take a moment to stop. Tyler stops too, and we're stood next to a thick bunch of trees, panting and catching our breath. Once my breath returns, I look around, gladly noting the lack of Careers.

"Tyler, I think we've lost them." I say sharply and quietly, as if my voice will return all of them to our exact spot. It could do, though, if they were listening hard enough, which, luckily, I doubt they are doing. Now only one question remains; where do we go now? We can't really return to the forest, and the beach is a no-go, so where?

I look up, and my question is answered instantly. The mountain. The massive natural structure looms over the island, towering up into the clouds. Perfect for getting lost on. And we won't have to worry about any other tributes trying to kill us. In fact, the only downside would be that we'd be easily at risk from any Mutts the Capitol decides to spring up. But killing a Muttation is significantly less morally wrong than killing a kid, so I'll take the chance.

"Tyler, how do you feel about going on a little expedition?" I ask brightly, and Tyler's eager nature immediately responds to the positivity.

"Yeah!" He yells, then, realising where we are, whispers the words again. " Yeah..." I smile at this; good to know Tyler still has his sense of humour, and point at the mountain.

"That is where we're going, Tyler; we're gonna be mountain climbers." A giggle bursts out of Tyler's lips, and we begin to walk through the trees, heading towards what might very well be our salvation in this game.

"And just where do you think you're going?" A foreign voice rings out, and chills run down my spine. I glance around, looking for the source of the voice, and find nothing. Nothing at all. I look to the trees, but there is no sign of anyone. It was as if the voice was never there to begin with. Am I hearing things? Going crazy? No, the voice was definitely real; Tyler's reacting like I am. Even though he is rather childish, it shows I'm not alone in hearing this voice. "What's the matter? Can't see me?" The voice is louder this time, more confident. They're mocking us. Wait a minute. Mocking! It must be a jabberjay- a genetically altered bird that can perfectly mimic the human voice; the ancestor of the mockingjay.

My theory is instantly disproven by the arrow that flies out of nowhere, grazing my cheek. I don't need a mirror to know that it's bleeding; I can feel the warm fluid dripping down my face. I look around, more frantic this time, and draw my knife. I clutch the handle tightly, the blade poised to attack. Despite the fact I don't want to, I'm more than willing to fight this mystery attacker to death if it comes to it.

"Tyler, get your knife out." I whisper to him. I don't look at him, but I hear the frantic unzipping and re-zipping of his bag as he draws his weapon out.

"Who's there?!" Tyler yells, and before I can tell him what a stupid move that was, a barrage of arrows rains from the sky.

We hit the bushes as the sharp weapons attack the ground, my heartbeat louder than before, a new type of fear filling my being. A fear of dying, here and now, at the hands of whoever it is raining unholy fire down at us.

Suddenly, a fresh wave of arrows begins to assault the bush, and we're forced out of hiding into the open. Another few arrows flies at us, and in retaliation, I throw my knife into the trees. I hear a yelp, and the sound of someone hitting the floor. But no cannon. Which means whoever it was is still alive. Not good. Not good at all.

"Tyler, pass me your knife." I ask, my voice harsh and urgent.

"But Alanna, how will I-"

"I don't care Tyler, we both know I'm the better aim. You can get it back once we're done. Okay?" Sighing, he complies, and hands me the knife. It's identical to the last one, down to the shape of the handle. We begin to walk towards the mountain again, and our attacker surfaces from the bushes.

It's the girl from 2, holding a shining silver bow, her back loaded with countless quivers, all full of arrows. My heart rate increases once more, and panic rushes throughout my body. I hold my knife close, and take a step back. This simple action is enough to provoke her into action.

She loads her bow with almost impossible speed, and opens fire, the arrows barely missing us. I throw Tyler to the floor, and glare at him.

"Go on ahead! I'll meet you there!" I bark, my voice urgent as an arrow lands between the two of us.

"But I won't be able to make it!" He replies weakly, and I see tears beginning to flow down his face. Of course, he's absolutely terrified.

"Fine then," I grimace, "Keep hidden in the bushes, and I'll hold her off."

"Okay then." He nods, a determined expression appearing on his face, and he crawls into the bushes, vanishing from sight. I take this moment, whilst she's distracted, to rush at her. I get up close, and drag my knife across her arm. She cries out in pain, and sweeps her leg out, tripping me up. I fall to the floor, the force of the impact causing my head to explode in a powerful rush of pain. But I can't afford to hesitate. Not now.

I scramble to my feet, and barely dodge a kick from the girl from 2. She loads her bow, and fires an arrow. I duck out of the way, and it harmlessly sails into a tree, splintering the wood. Okay, maybe not that harmless, but at least it didn't kill anyone. The girl from 2 doesn't skip a beat, and she's already rushing at me, going in for a tackle. I don't see why she would be doing that, but then I see the spear concealed by her jacket.

It's very rare I'm thankful for my small frame, but this is one of those highly rare occasions. I throw myself to the ground, and the girl from 2 keeps running, tripping over me, crashing into the ground. She lets out a moan of pain, before going silent.

I crawl out from under her, and see Tyler, standing over her head, holding a rock. I glance back at the unconscious girl's face, and notice the steady flow of blood pouring from her nose.

"Tyler, I think you just saved us." I say, catching my breath.

"Really?" He says, his face lighting up, reminding me of an eager puppy. His smile is infectious, and I can't help but share the positive emotion.

"Yes, really. Now come on, we have to get to the mountain before the other Careers catch up." I grab my lost knife from her belt, and begin to walk down a path that I hadn't noticed before, towards the mountain.

The path cuts clearly through the forest, and I can see the other side already. I turn back to Tyler, and a playful grin crosses my face. Might as well make the most of a bad situation.

"Hey Tyler, last one out of the forest is a rotten egg." I taunt, and a confident smirk grows on his face.

"Oh, it's on!" He shoots forward, racing down the dirt path. After one last look around, I take off after him, laughing as he trips. I overtake him, and I've almost made it out when he comes up from behind.

"Looks like you'll be the rotten egg!" He laughs, and begins to overtake me. Seems he's faster than I've given him credit for.

"Over my dead body!" I cry back to him, and match his pace, before the two of us both trip on a loose tree root, tumbling out of the tree line in a pile of laughter and smiles. I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun.

"Looks like we're both rotten eggs, Alanna!" Tyler pipes up, and I set off into a giggling fit, followed by a triumphant grin as I look at the rocky hill in front of us. We've reached the mountain.

"Come on Tyler," I say, walking over to the base, "Not long now until we can rest." Tyler laughs wearily, and follows me up, continuing to giggle.

Finally, we reach a small cave in the side of the mountain. I carefully walk horizontally across the sloping path, and into the small hole. It's about the size of a large tent; large enough for the two of us to comfortably fit, but not large enough to be noticed. Tyler climbs in, and I look out, at the view.

It's breathtaking. I can see the early morning sun beginning to rise up over the horizon, its golden rays reflecting off the ocean that surrounds the island. The glow of the sun also seems to intensify the shining of the Cornucopia, the golden horn becoming a beacon in the dimnishing darkness, as well as the flaming ball of golds and yellows that is slowly climbing higher in the sky.

"Hey, Alanna," Tyler says, yawning, "I just realised that we didn't sleep at all last night."

"Yeah," I reply, suddenly yawning myself, "How's about we catch some sleep for a few hours?"

He doesn't need a second invitation, and already he's laying down, his eyes shut. I sit in the far corner of the cave, and look out as the sun slowly brightens up the arena. And as I look at the sleeping form of Tyler, I realise just how much I actually appreciate his company.


	16. Moving On

**Afya Zahirah, 16, District 11 Tribute**

I wipe the remnants of the sleep from my eyes, and stretch my body as the early morning forest comes into view. My hands fly to the belt that's securing me to the branch of my tree, and I unfasten myself, carefully placing the belt back into my bag. I look below me, and see Maia, still asleep. I sigh; she's blocking the easy way down, so I'll have to hop into the bushes, and not the secure clearing. But I suppose taking one risk won't kill me.

I swing my legs over the branch, and push myself off, my arms flying to the branch for support. I remain in the air for a moment, my momentum causing me to sway like a flower in a soft summer breeze. I take a series of deep breaths, then let myself go, falling to the ground. I land on my feet, and the impact is lesser than what I expected.

My movements haven't gone undetected, though, and I look over to Maia, who's beginning to stir. Judging by the time of day, it's been about twenty four hours since I proposed the alliance. She eagerly accepted, fortunately. After all, we are two very similar contestants in the game; both quiet, almost invisible, tributes who have effortlessly blended into the woodwork. Even after the generous training score I received from the Gamemakers, nobody's tried to target me. I suppose that's a good thing, but I wouldn't be able to last forever on my own; alliances are the key to winning this thing.

So I spent the first evening watching as the tributes vanished from the realm of the living, crossing them off my mental list of potential allies. And from the list of remaining tributes, there was only one I felt that I could trust the most- Maia Kentner from District 5. I managed to find her early on in the second day, after successfully killing the traitor known as Kyle Duran. I know it's taboo to kill your own district partner, especially so early on in the Games, but he deserved it. After all, he blatantly lied during his entire time in the Capitol; he came off as a charismatic, hopeful tribute that everyone would get along with- he even made an alliance with District 8 and the girl from 9. But then, everything changed the morning before launch. Kyle revealed that he was in the Career alliance. This revelation caught me by surprise, and rendered our mentors speechless. An outlier, especially one from such a poor district, joining the trained killers that have been mainly responsible for the deaths of our tributes most years? Simply sickening; he deserved the gruesome end that he was met with.

Clearing these thoughts from my head, I walk over to the now awake Maia.

"Good morning." I say as I unzip my bag, grabbing some of my measly food supply- two small bags of dried fruits. I pick out two dried orange slices from my open bag, and place them in my mouth, enjoying the dulled flavour to the best of my ability.

"Morning." Maia replies as she too eats from her significantly larger bag of nuts. She stops herself from eating any more, and places them back in her bag, whilst I get out my bow.

"I'm going to check the nearby are for tributes, so stay here until I return." I say, walking away from her, and into the bushes.

It looks like nobody's been here. Good. I turn around, to head back to Maia, when I notice it. In the middle of one of the trees, penetrating the slick bark, is an arrow. A single golden arrow. I look at my own quiver of arrows. They're all silver. Which can only mean one thing. My blood turns to ice as the realisation hits me. The Careers. Normally, I'd just hide away in the trees for a while, until I'm sure the danger's gone, but with Maia, I'm not sure if she'd be able to do that. She's a strong willed fighter, but she might not be as skilled with stealth as I am.

I turn away from the tree, before looking back at it. Might as well increase my ammunition. With a considerable amount of effort, I pull the golden arrow free, and place it in my quiver, before walking through the greenery. It seems that already the humidity and the heat are showing their ugly faces. I wipe a small amount of sweat from my brow, before pushing away a stray branch, revealing our little clearing.

"Any sign of anyone?" Maia asks, standing up, wiping the sleep from her eyes. I take a step forward, and pull the arrow out of my quiver.

"Yes." I reply. Maia looks at the arrow, confused. Of course, she wouldn't see the importance of it; she's barely seen my own arrows.

"What's with the arrow?" She asks. I was right, she doesn't know.

"It's an arrow from the Careers." I state, my voice darkening. The words seem to have the desired effect on Maia, as she quickly puts her bag on, and looks around frantically. "Don't worry, they're not close to us at this exact moment."

"Are you sure?" She responds, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I'm sure. If they were close, would we still be alive?" I say reassuringly. Maia immediately calms down, and she takes a couple of deep breaths, before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Good," She begins, her tone considerably more serious, "But I don't think we should stick around here. After all, they will most likely return to here given the chance." She's taken the words right out of my mouth. And it's a good thing she did; anyone with common sense would have left long ago.

"You're right," I say, looking around, "We need to preferably leave here before noon. We've been in the forest far too long." Maia nods in agreement, and I try to think of where would be a good place to go. The forest isn't a good idea; we've been here since the start of the Games, and the Gamemakers are probably on the verge of flushing us out. The beach area is also off-limits; it's where the Careers have set up camp this year. Which really only leaves one place.

"Maia, we're going to the mountain."

We both quickly secure our bags on, and begin to walk in the direction of the mountain. There's a dirt path that cuts through the forest, but given our situation, it'd probably a stupid idea to walk down such an open road. I look behind me, and see Maia, who's taking in the scenery.

"Stay focused." I call to her, and she snaps back to reality, looking straight ahead. Her eyes widen, and I go to ask her what's the matter, before I fall down the hill.

It happens so quickly, and all I can do is close my eyes as I tumble rapidly down the slick slope, eventually crashing in a heap at the bottom. My entire body hurts, but judging by the pain, it's only a superficial wound, like a bruise. Shakily, I stand up, and look around.

I'm at the bottom of a hill, mud surrounding me in every direction, steeply sloping upwards, trapping me. As far as things go, this could have gone worse. But it also could have gone a _lot_ better as well.

"Afya! Afya!" Maia's shouting fills the air, and I look up to see my pale-haired ally standing over the edge of the slope, looking down at me. "Afya, are you alright?!"

"Fine!" I call back, "Just stuck, is all!"

"I'll look around the area, to try and see if there's a way up!" Maia calls down to me, before running off along the edge. I go to follow her, but something stops me.

I'm not sure how I was alerted to its presence, but right there, in the middle of the dirt, is a knife. Judging from the near pristine quality, it was once in the possession of a Career. And given where I am, there is a high chance that they could still be here. A chill runs down my body, and I pick up the knife, carefully placing it in my belt. Happy with my new weapon, I begin to walk down the bottom of this small valley, following the almost distant figure of Maia. It seems that, for some reason, I'm slowing down. Still running forward, I try to figure out what's causing this drop in speed.

But before I can, something rams me to the ground. I let out a scream as the crushing feeling takes over my body. A slight hiss fills the air, and I slowly look up, to be met with the eight eyes of a massive spider, staring me in the face. My own eyes widen, and I quickly roll out of the way of the massive arachnid. I scramble to my feet desperately, and run. I look back, and see the spider laying a fine web of silk across the ground, allowing it to move quicker than me. Of course, that's how I've been slowed down; the entire area's a massive spider web.

With this newly discovered information, I realise that escape really isn't an option. Which leaves me with one option: To fight back against this Muttation. I reach for my bow, and waste no time loading it with one of my arrows. I take aim, and fire. The arrow sails through the air, before striking the spider in the eye. It stumbles for a moment, before charging at me.

I duck to the floor as it leaps towards me, the Mutt instead harmlessly careening into the ground a little further from me. I get back up, and let another arrow fly, this one falling short of its target. Brilliant. The spider stands up again, and begins to stagger towards me.

"Maia, help!" I scream, suddenly terrified for the first time in the Games. I wasn't scared during the bloodbath; it was just a matter of timing. I wasn't scared during the forest fire; that too was a game of precision. But this, this a whole new level of terrifying. I can't run from this fight, and ground level is perhaps the worst place to be in a fight. I take several more steps back, my heart rate rapidly increasing.

"Afya! Afya!" It's faint, but I can hear Maia's cries of desperation.

"Maia, I'm down here!" I call up, hopelessly firing another arrow at the massive pile of limbs, eyes, and hair. It strikes the abdomen, and it begins to rub its back legs together. I've only seen this once before, back in District 11. I was harvesting some fruit, when one of my fellow workers came across a spider. They tried to remove it, but it rubbed its legs together, creating a cloud of hairs that went into his face. He later went blind. This thought terrifies me, and I begin to visibly tremble.

"Afya! Don't worry, I'll think of something!" Maia cries down, but her tone of voice says otherwise. I'm going to die, and nobody can do anything about it. I look up again, and watch in despair as Maia vanishes from sight. She's abandoned me, left me to die. Of course, I wouldn't want to see someone die such a gruesome death as the one that I'm about to meet. But I won't go down without a fight.

I reload my bow, and release another arrow, just as the cloud of hairs flies at me. I hit the floor, and roll to the side as fast as possible, the hairs coating the area where I was mere seconds ago. I get back up, and look on in joy at the spider. I've managed to hit it right in the middle of its head. It seems stunned, but definitely still alive. I place another arrow in my bow, and prepare to fire once more, until it suddenly leaps at me.

I'm thrown to the ground yet again, being forced to look up at the massive spider. Seven of its eyes glare at me; bright red spheres that strike terror into my very being, and its oversized fangs are secreting some kind of fluid. It's most likely to be some sort of highly deadly toxin. I let out another scream, and punch one of its legs. It does nothing, and another idea comes to me, its head slowly lowering in for the kill. I pull out my newly acquired knife, and slash it across the same leg. The entire lower portion comes clean off, and the massive beast tumbles to the ground, almost convulsing in sheer agony. I crawl out from under it, and stand to my feet, panting from exhaustion. I'm running low on energy, and this Muttation still seems to be able to fight at full capacity.

The spider climbs to its remaining feet shakily, and begins to stagger towards me, some sort of dark fluid leaking from its ex-limb; blood. I load my bow again, prepared to start the futile cycle once more, when a voice calls out, stopping everything in its tracks.

"Hey, get off of her!"

I look up in shock as I see Maia looking triumphantly over the edge of the slope.

"Maia?!" I call out in shock, still keeping one eye trained on the Mutt. It could do some unexpected action if I'm not careful.

"Afya, get out of the way!" She cries out, and points to the branch she's holding on to. "I'm bringing some extreme force into the battle!" I quickly hop back a few steps, and watch as she lets go of the branch. The tree it was attached to trembles, and I see what could easily be the largest toxic mushroom roll down the hill.

It crashes into the spider, the pair of them rolling into the other side of this valley. The spider scrambles around, trying to escape the clutches of the massive piece of fungus, before the spores are released. The purple cloud completely covers the massive arachnid, every inch of its body going into a massive spasm, before beginning to melt into the web it has created. The cloud floats into the sky, and disappears into the clouds, gone forever. I return my attention to the melted pile of slush that was once a Muttation, before walking towards the base of the hill separating me from Maia.

"I'll get you up!" She yells, before a rather sturdy length of vine is thrown down towards me. I grab onto it, and slowly climb upwards. I'm almost at the top, when I slip, but Maia grabs my hand, catching me.

"Thanks." I say to her. She smiles warmly, before hoisting me up.

I wipe the layer of sweat from my face, and catch my breath, looking at Maia. That was dangerously close, and it seems I was right about the Capitol getting bored of us. I reach into my bag, and pull out my canteen of water, taking two large gulps, quenching my thirst, before returning my attention to Maia.

"Let's go to the mountain before this forest kills us." I say, exasperated, and Maia smiles, nodding.

"You're right, let's go." I place my water back in my bag, and lead us through the bushes, cutting through foliage until we reach the edge of the tree line.

A cool breeze blows through the air, and I take a deep breath, stepping out onto the dirt floor, glad to be free of that death trap. Maia emerges as well, and looks up at the mountain that lies mere metres from us.

"Well, looks like we made it." She says, a weary smile growing on her face.

"Indeed we did Maia." I reply warmly, and the two of us head towards the base of the mountain, beginning our climb to safety.


	17. Fuel For the Flames

**April Holme, 14, District 12 Tribute**

I tend to the slowly roasting groosling on the fire in front of me, taking in the delicious scent of our lunch. Food wise, the arena's been pretty kind to us; I mean, how often is it that a whole horde of the birds comes by? Not very often, if you ask me.

I return my attention to the bird. Judging by the golden-brown colour of its skin, it's about done. Carefully, I reach over to it, and pick it up. The heat of the bird instantly burns my hands, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming out loud. However, I still manage to set it down on one of the fallen logs, and leave it there, darting to the lake on the other side of the clearing, trying my hardest to not cry out in agony.

When my hands reach the cool water, relief immediately floods over me as the heat of the burn vanishes. I remain like this for another few moments, until the water has numbed by hands. Grateful for this, I stand back up, and return to the log. Our lunch is still there, and is still appetisingly delicious. Only one thing left to do know.

I make my way deeper into the woods, to our camp. The three tents that Hunter managed to salvage from the Cornucopia are still set up, two of them occupied. If I didn't know better, I'd say that both Magnum and Hunter are narcoleptic or something. But they're not; they're in the Hunger Games with the one person that can function on barely any sleep at all.

Cautiously, I walk across the sun-dried dirt floor, and unzip the first tent. I'm met with the sleeping form of Magnum, who is mumbling softly in her sleep. It's only expected; I'm surprised I haven't yet had any nightmares.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, get up!" I shout. No need to be soft here; sleep may be the death of my allies if they remain in a deep slumber for too long. "Come on, lunch is ready!" I coo again, and this seems to provoke some form of response from Magnum.

"Macro, whatever it is you want can wait." She groans, and I nudge her again, growing impatient at how much this girl can sleep through. If this was called the Sleeping Games instead of the Hunger Games, she would definitely be the victor. No doubt about it.

"Magnum, get up!" I yell, louder. Suddenly, her eyes snap open, and she lets out a scream, glaring at me, bewildered. Upon recognising me, she calms down, sighing softly, before moving a few loose strands of hair from her face.

"Oh, it's you, April," She says, crawling out of the tent, "You sure managed to give me a fright there."

For some reason, her saying this manages to make the both of us burst into laughter. We chuckle and giggle, and my sides begin to hurt with the shuddering spasms of humour. It doesn't last long, though, and I've soon managed to calm down. Magnum, however, is still wiping the tears form her eyes, and shuddering in bliss.

"I'm going to go and wake Hunter now." I tell her, and get up off of the floor. She nods in between fits of laughter, and I walk across the clearing, heading towards Hunter's tent. Hopefully he'll be somewhat less traumatic to wake up than Magnum.

I reach the tent, and my hand slowly moves towards the zipper. Suddenly, without warning, it shoots open, and I'm met with weary, but happy, face of Hunter, his blue eyes staring right into my own grey ones.

"What's gotten you in such a good mood?" I ask flatly as he practically leaps out of his tent. Yes, you heard that right. Leaping. In the Hunger Games. What the heck.

"Nothing at all," He practically sings, before skipping merrily towards Magnum. I need a reality check or something, considering Hunter has spent the last two days focusing on his girlfriend back home, not frolicking merrily throughout this tropical deathmatch. At least he isn't endangering us just yet, thankfully.

Seeing as both of my allies are awake, I walk over to them. Might as well tell them the reason I woke them up.

"So, who's ready for some lunch?" I ask nonchalantly, but the response from Magnum and Hunter is instant and ecstatic.

"Yeah!" The two of them cry out, their mouths practically watering as I say this. Oh, how I know that feeling. After all, living in District 12 means that hunger is essentially your best friend 24/7.

"Where is the food?" Magnum enquires, giddy with the prospect of food. I don't even see why. We've had a good food supply since day one. But whatever keeps us happy and sane.

"It's near the lake," I tell them, and begin to walk towards the clearing, "Come on!"

Well, they don't a second invitation. Both Magnum and Hunter rush past me, darting through the trees. I waste no time in catching up with them, and pretty soon the three of us are in the clearing. I walk over to the log, the sun beginning to beat down on me, causing a sheen of sweat to appear on my forehead, and scream in horror at what I see.

A whole swarm of jabberjays have appeared, and are fighting one another over the pile of freshly cooked meat, imitating the screams of the recently departed tributes from the bloodbath. The sounds strike terror into my soul, and I'm left paralysed as the copycat birds fly off, each one holding a generous portion of our lunch in their horrific beaks, leaving us with a pile of bones and entrails. How _wonderful_.

"Well, that's just... Oh my." I look back to my allies, my tongue loaded with witty remarks about the jabberjays and the way they stole our food, when I see the state of them. Hunter's staring off into space, his eyes glazed over, trembling slightly. Of course, I recognised Nikki's cry in there; it must be playing several mind games at once with him. But what's really got me concerned is the state of Magnum. She's curled up on the floor in the fetal position, her hands on her ears, crying softly.

"No, no, no, no, no..." She whimpers, shaking and sobbing. This isn't good.

"Magnum...?" I call softly to her, carefully inching towards the girl from District 3. "Are you alright?"

"...April?" Magnum looks up at me, temporarily confused. Then, she leaps up, and wraps her arms around me, her voice almost bursting with relief and joy. "Oh, April! It was awful!" She weeps into my shoulder, and I find myself awkwardly comforting the girl that is one year my senior.

We remain like this for a few minutes, before Magnum lets go, looking deflated. "April, I'm sorry about the food." I see her eyes trained on the inedible pile of groosling that was once a truly delicious lunch. She looks really upset about it, and given her last breakdown, it'd probably be best if I keep the atmosphere as positive as possible.

"Oh, that old thing?" I let out a laugh that sounds incredibly forced, but Magnum buys it, or so it seems, "Don't worry about it. I'll just go catch another one." I give her a smile, and this seems to calm her down. Good.

"Hey, April," Hunter speaks up, still on his buzz of joy from earlier, "Mind if I come with you? After all, two people are better than one." Well, I didn't see this coming.

"Why?" I ask in response, "You know that I'm the skilled hunter in this situation."

"It's just that it'd probably be good if I know how to in the event that we lose you." Hunter says, looking endearingly at me. Great. I'm caving in to him.

"...Fine." I grumble, picking up my bow from behind the log, "But what're we gonna do about Magnum?"

"Yeah, what about me?" Magnum suddenly asks, as if she's just become aware of the conversation.

"Don't you worry about that," A light hearted chuckle escapes from Hunter's lips, "You get the most important job: You get to guard the camp whilst we're gone!" He says this in such a tone that if I couldn't see the situation, I'd think he was talking to a child, not a fifteen year old girl.

"Really? That's great! Thank you so much!" Magnum is almost bursting with excitement, and I resist the urge to point out the dangers of leaving a girl as fragile as she is alone in the woods, where trained killers are prowling on the search for prey, since it seems that Hunter's managed to calm her down.

"Don't mention it," I say, and point in the general direction of our camp, "And if I were you, I'd hurry up, camp guard." I sugarcoat those last words immensely, and the sheer sweetness is making my stomach hurt. Magnum laughs at this, and runs off into the woods, singing to herself.

"Well, that was awkward." Hunter finally says. He must have read my mind, as I was just about to say the exact same thing.

"Indeed it was," I reply, before turning to him, "And now we're alone, spill the beans. Why're you coming along with me?" I ask darkly, but Hunter doesn't miss a beat.

"Oh, that." He pauses for a moment, before continuing once more, "Well, I have something to discuss with you," He looks in the direction of the camp, "Something that cannot be discussed with Magnum present."

A thousand possibilities run through my mind at that statement, none of them positive. What's he planning? For the two of us to ditch her? To kill her? To go on some mindless killing spree?

"Hunter, why?" Is all I ask. He shakes his head in response, before walking closer to the trees.

"I can't tell you just now. Wait just a little longer; trust me on this, April." Because that _really_ sounds trustworthy. Leading me deep into the woods, alone, just to tell me some secret plan? If it weren't for the fact that I know Hunter well, alarm bells would definitely be sounding out.

"Alright then," I say begrudgingly, "But if you try any, and I mean **any**, funny business, be prepared for an arrow in your eye." He chuckles at this, and the two of us walk into the woods, in search for our well needed lunch.

As soon as I step into the foliage, I'm instantly cooled down; the shade from the trees is protecting me from the blistering sunlight. The Gamemakers are definitely playing with a massive thermostat; every day it's becoming more and more unbearable to be out in the sun. I tread carefully and quietly on the ground, becoming a silent entity. That's one of the things I love about the woods; I can blend perfectly into the background, being able to hide away indefinitely. Hunter, however, is quite obviously not living up to his namesake; he's treading and crashing into everything at volumes I didn't think were possible.

"Hunter, how much louder could you possibly get?" I hiss, and he looks at me apologetically.

"Sorry," He whispers, "I'm not skilled in the art of silence."

"Whatever," I reply, "Just try not to make noise when we actually find anything."

We move deeper into the woods, and with every passing second, I grow to resent bringing Hunter along more and more. I mean, really? Could I have gotten anyone even louder? Of course not; such a person doesn't exist.

My internal rant is promptly cut off, however, by the rewarding sound of fluttering wings; a groosling, and close.

"Come on!" I whisper to Hunter, and the two of us take off, running through the greenery, until the bird flies out in front of us. With surprising accuracy, I load up by bow, aim, and fire at the flying figure. I strike it in the stomach, and it falls to the ground, writhing in agony.

"You did it!" Hunter cries out in joy, and since I'm so happy that we've got food, I don't chastise him for being loud. I run over to the squirming pile of live meat, and pull out my dagger. When I first found the dagger in the middle of the bloodbath, I thought nothing of it, but now it's become a just as powerful asset as my bow. I bend down to slice its throat, when suddenly, it receives a last-ditch burst of adrenaline.

I'm thrown to the ground as the bird jabs its beak into my side. It hurts really badly, but I don't think it's broken the skin, thankfully. After releasing several more squeals of terror, the groosling simply flies away, the arrow still protruding from its underside. I watch, dumbstruck, as it disappears towards the mountain, taking both lunch, and some of my ammunition, with it.

"Damn it." I finally manage to say, the feeling of remorse bubbling up inside me, "Damn it!" I slump my head into the nearest tree, and proceed to punch it, getting the sticky residue, that I found out could easily burst into flames, all over my hand.

"April?" Hunter says, walking over to me, "Are you okay?"

"What do you think, Hunter?" I snap back, "I managed to lose our lunch twice, meaning I'm hungry as hell, and I've just lost a precious arrow. What do you _think_?" Anger has taken over now, and I'm kicking the tree as I try to prevent the tears from spilling out. But it doesn't work, and I'm soon slumped on the floor, sobbing; a wreck.

I can't do this. I mean, look at me. I'm having a Magnum level breakdown, over losing some food. Something as pathetic as food. How ridiculous. Several victors have actually managed to get out alive having not eaten anything over the entire time they were in there. Our alliance is privileged, getting such a meal. I should have realised that our luck wasn't going to last forever.

"April," Hunter begins yet again. I'm really not in the mood to tolerate whatever spills from his mouth that he thinks could possibly help me out. "April, get up."

"Why?!" I yell at him, tears streaming down my face. He doesn't respond. Instead, he puts his finger to his lips- a gesture that I learned in school means silence, and points to the sky. Then I hear the beeping.

Leaping to my feet, I look up, and see the magnificent silver parachute floating down from the clouds, the District 12 emblem quite clearly printed onto it. It takes all my control to not burst into song there and then. The parachute lands softly on the grass, and I sprint over to it.

I tear it open, and find a large silver box. It's warm to touch, oddly enough. Carefully, I lift the lid off, and look on in joy at what I see. Two roast turkeys, plump and coated with seasoning. And underneath it, two large glass bottles. One's empty, whilst the other is filled to the brim with some sort of Capitol booze. The alcohol has a note attached to it, and I pick it up, reading what it has to say.

_Thought you could use this- H._

"Thank you!" I yell to the sky, tears of joy streaming down my face. Hunter, however, has a different look on his face. A darker one.

"Can I have the bottles for a moment?" He asks, calmly.

"Sure," I say, slightly confused. I grab the second bottle, and hand the pair of them to him. Almost instantly, a chuckle bursts out from him.

"Perfect." He says happily, clutching the two bottles. Okay, something isn't quite right here.

"Hunter, what's so great?" I ask, covering the two turkeys. He responds by pulling something out of his pocket. Something I've only seen once in my life, but something that is easily recognisable. A lighter.

"April, ever heard of old world weaponry?" Hunter asks. I nod in response. It's something they teach us throughout school. Back before Panem, there were almost as many types of guns as there were types of people.

"I have." I say, and Hunter's smile widens even more. Something has really gotten to him.

"Well, a select few people managed to make a powerful weapon using very few materials: Alcohol; a bottle; fuel; fire." I haven't heard of a weapon like this before, and I fail to see how that could ever be useful.

"Hunter, I don't follow." I say flatly, and he just laughs again.

"You see, I had the idea for this the moment I saw the trees burst into flames. The flammable sap was the major ingredient that I knew would be hard to find, but it's actually all over the forest. So all I needed was the alcohol, and someone kindly gave us that."

"Hunter, what exactly are you doing?" I ask as he fills the empty bottle with the tree sap.

"April, I'm going to make us a Molotov cocktail." He says, before he tears a section of his sleeve off, tying it around the top of the bottle. He then pours some of the alcohol on top of the bottle, before holding it close.

Suddenly, it all makes sense. The fuel inside the bottle is highly flammable, and the fragile nature of the bottle means that it'd be able to quickly spread. The alcohol coated fabric means that the fire will increase in size, and the lighter will be able to set this whole thing off.

"Hunter, that's awesome and all," I begin, unsure of what the purpose of all this is, "But what are you exactly going to do with it all?"

"April," Hunter says, releasing an almost sadistic laugh, "We're going to take down the Careers."


	18. Lost Love

**Ryder Bristen, 18, District 4 Tribute**

I sit at the edge of the mouth of the Cornucopia, looking out over the beach that we have claimed as our own for the entirety of our time in the arena. The midday sun is beating down on us, and I find myself continually wiping my forehead to remove the constant layer of sweat from my forehead. I reach to the side of me, and grab my canteen. It's shaped like a fish; a cute little gimmick courtesy of the Capitol.

A rustling sound from the tree line that surrounds the beach catches my attention, and I look to see Ebony emerging from the forest, holding what looks like a dead bird, with an arrow protruding from its stomach.

"Hey, guys! Look what I found!" He calls out, and Emerald and Ariella emerge from their tents, both looking well rested. Well, they would be; we've hardly done anything for 48 hours.

I hop down from the top of the golden horn, and join the rest of my allies on the beach, trying my hardest to ignore the sweltering heat. Both the girls are looking at the bird Ebony's holding quizzically, but I fail to see anything out of the ordinary. It's just a bird, but with an arrow sticking out of it from where Ebony shot it. That's when it dawns on me.

Ebony can't use a bow.

"Hey, Ebony," I begin, sure that something's not right here, "How'd the bird get the arrow stuck in it?"

"I have a pretty good idea about that," He replies coolly, "Look at the type of arrow. A dark metal." The three of us look at it, and all mutually nod. It's pretty obvious. "And the only one of us with a bow is Ariella, correct?" More nods. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure her arrows are made of gold."

"You are correct." Ariella replies swiftly, moving some of her dark hair out of her face. It seems to have stuck to her with sweat. So I'm not the only one feeling the full effects of the heat.

"Which can only mean one thing," Ebony says conclusively, "This bird was obviously shot by another tribute with a bow. And a pretty good shot at that." A sort of tense silence falls over us as we all exchanged glances; it's a mixture of confusion and worry. Almost straight away, my mind begins to wander. Who else besides Ariella knows how to use the bow?

There's April, the kid from District 12. I saw her using it a couple of times during training, but I never thought that she'd be particularly good. And if I remember correctly, I think I saw the girl from District 11, Afya or something, using a bow, but I barely remember seeing her, so it might have been someone else. Someone else that we probably killed in the bloodbath.

Speaking of killing, who exactly is left alive? We're right into day three, and it's been a while since anyone's died. I look up to the sky, gazing at the white, rippling clouds that swirl in a few places, and run through a mental list of who exactly is alive.

There's Ebony and Emerald, for certain. And they're both seemingly alive and healthy. There's also Nick and Ariella, and the same goes for them. The boy from 3 is dead, but I think his district partner's still alive. I have no idea what state she's in. Then, there's Annemarie; she was the first to die. The mere memory of it causes tears to prick my eyes, but I'm at mercy of my memories.

_The opaque glass shatters, and I'm left to stumble out from my launch pad. The sun is blinding, and I have no idea about the arena, except that I'm standing on sand. Did we get a desert arena this year? Whilst I think this, the sound of screaming tributes mixes with an all too nostalgic scent; sea salt._

_So I'm currently on a beach. Knowing this fills me with confidence, and I return my attention to the scene playing out in front of me. No wonder it's called a bloodbath. Right now, Nick and Ariella are stumbling to get a grip of the situation. It's only to be expected, after all. They won't be as experienced in this sort of environment. I can't see Emerald, but I can see Ebony. He's running towards a small, thin blonde girl. I think she's from District 6. But somehow, she evades him at the last moment, and he topples to the floor as she continues to rush towards the Cornucopia, which I now realise is piled high with every last supply, instead of having a few laying about._

_Judging from the way she's running, the girl from District 6 will make it to the Cornucopia first. I should do something about this, but she's only a tiny twelve year old that'll be lucky to see tomorrow._

_"Hey, Ryder!" I turn my head, and see Annemarie to my right. I throw my arms around her, and give her a brief kiss, but pull off. We'll have plenty of time for that later._

_"Annemarie, you're alright." I say, relieved. At least she isn't a bloodbath casualty. But then again, looking around, the bloodbath has been going on maybe 45 seconds at the most. _

_Suddenly, Annemarie whips her head towards the Cornucopia. The girl from 6 is nearly there._

_"Wait here," She tells me, "I'm going to rush into the Cornucopia, and kill that kid before she gets any supplies." Oh, how I love Annemarie when she's plotting like this._

_"Okay then." I reply, and we kiss once more. I'm then left to stand there as Annemarie charges forward, beating the pace of the girl from 6._

_Something seems wrong. I don't know what it is, but the sight of Annemarie running to the Cornucopia is filling me with panic. Then I see it. It's barely noticeable, but the black hue of the landmine contrasts greatly with the soft colour of the sand. _

_I go to open my mouth, to warn her, to tell her of the perils. But it's too late, and I stand there, helpless, as Annemarie's foot makes contact with the landmine. A ring of explosions erupt around the golden horn, the smoke absorbing Annemarie. I think I can hear her scream for a brief moment._

_Once the smoke clears, I can see charred weapons and bags falling from the sky, and a streak of red along the sand of the beach that leads out to the shoreline, to where a smoking, mangled pile of flesh floats. Annemarie's dead. And to think, if I had delayed her for a second longer, it would have been chunks of the girl from 6 raining down instead._

The mere thought of the memory fills me with nausea, and I shake my head to clear the horrific visions from my mind. Get back to thinking about the remaining tributes. That's what I was doing.

So, after District 4, I think only the girl from 5 is alive. I don't remember seeing her during the bloodbath, but she must have grabbed some supplies or something, and fled off into the wilderness. Somehow, both from 6 remain alive. The girl might have some chance of survival, but her district partner is confusing. He spent the majority of the time in training talking to us about how his best friend liked to shove rocks where the sun doesn't shine, so to speak.

District 7, 8, and 9 have all perished. The girl from 7 lasted until the second morning, but Kyle burned her hiding place down, then slaughtered her brutally. The boy from 10 is still alive, as is the girl from 11. Both seem like they'd still be in fighting condition. And the last tribute left alive is the girl from District 12. Which is rather surprising, considering the fact that she's from such a pathetic outlying district. But she is still alive none the less, and that means we'll have to find her somehow.

"I think that we should find whoever owns this arrow," A voice speaks up. I look to see Nick, emerging from the trees, "And kill them."

"You sure about that?" Emerald replies, looking uneasy at the thought. "I mean, they obviously have quite the aiming skills."

"But I'm sure Ariella has a better aim than them." Nick shoots back with an agitated tone. With every time I see him, he seems to be getting more and more tense. I don't know why, but I can't imagine it's a good sign.

"But, Nick," Ebony cuts in, his expression mirroring Emerald's, "Is it really a good idea? Think about it; we'll be going off into the forest, leaving our camp unguarded, to try and find some tribute that is handy with a bow? Sounds pretty counter-productive if you ask me."

"Fine," Nick snaps, "You two can stay. Ryder, Ariella, you're coming with me."

"But-" Ariella goes to complain.

"Don't try arguing. It'll only earn you your head on a stick." This shuts her up, and rightfully so. Something's off about Nick, and I don't want to find out what; I would like to remain in one piece for the majority of my time in the arena.

I grab my trident, and follow the pair from District 2 into the forest. I'm slightly behind them, but then again, I am the only one who had to go back to get their weapon. Nick always has his sword on hand, and I'm not sure how Ariella always has her bow at the ready. But who am I to question them? It's known that the majority of victors have always come from District 2, so I'm aware of their strength.

The thick foliage of the forest manages to successfully shield us from the painful sunlight. The leaves create a natural roof of sorts above us, which also gives a slight amount of cover from other tributes that may be potentially stalking this forest as well. But it does mean that it is extremely humid in here, and I'm finding myself wiping my forehead frequently, which does leave me somewhat open to attacks.

We continue deeper into the forest, and I soon realise that this is a futile effort. There is no sign of anyone around here except us. I glance at Ariella. Her expression mirrors mine almost perfectly. She slows her pace, and ends up walking right beside me.

"Looks like there's nobody here," I whisper to her, wiping the sweat from my forehead once again, "Who's gonna tell him first?"

"I don't know," Ariella replies, "Since if we do, he'll probably snap. Between you and me, Nick's mental health has been deteriorating over the past few days."

"Really?" I'm surprised at this new information. This is quite startling; I always pictured Nick to be the strongest of us mentally. He is quite stubborn. "How so?"

"Well, for starters, he talks in his sleep. And the things he says..." Ariella trails off, shuddering.

"What sort of things?" I question. If Nick's going crazy, I have to know the full details of what's going on. I know that Ariella isn't lying, since I've noticed a change in his demeanour as well.

"It's almost as if he's having a conversation with someone," She begins, her voice shaky, "But it's like he's arguing with them about something horrific."

"What?" I need to press for information, since this could potentially tear the Career alliance apart.

"Nick's mind is conflicted as to whether or not he should go on a killing spree."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, I'm left there, stunned. Killing spree? The thought of that is rather terrifying. I mean, I know we've all killed, but we're only doing it to survive. But the way Ariella describes it, it's like Nick _wants_ to kill everyone for the sake of killing.

"Good lord." I finally say, trying to ignore the chilling feeling that I get when I look at Nick. After all, he does have the potential to kill us all very easily, and he's built like a tank. It would be very hard to stop him if he does decide to turn on us, and I pray that he doesn't do that.

"I know," Ariella replies, watching Nick closely, as if she's searching for any signs of his apparently inevitable breakdown. "Listen, Ryder. We'll have to keep this between the two of us, since if Ebony and Emerald find out, it might destroy the security of the alliance, and we don't want that. Not at this early stage of the Games anyway."

"But what if one of us notices him on the verge of snapping?" I ask Ariella, the secure forest now becoming rather claustrophobic.

"If that does happen," Ariella explains, "One of us is to lead him away from the others, and kill him."

"But won't they get suspicious?"

"We'll say it was a Mutt."

It sounds like it'd work, but me and Ariella aren't exactly the strongest tributes to deal with Nick, but we are the smarter Careers. And sometimes, intelligence is all you need to take down a rampaging monster. Brain versus brawn. Although, hopefully it won't come to that.

Suddenly, Nick stops moving, and slams his sword into a tree. My blood turns to ice at the sight, and Ariella's normally dark skin has almost gone white. Has he snapped? I swallow my fear, and speak up.

"Hey, Nick," My voice is trembling, but Nick doesn't seem to notice, "You alright?"

"Damn!" He yells as response, "There's nobody here!"

"Calm down," Ariella begins, "So what if we found no one? At least we now know that whoever it was that hit the bird is quick to flee."

"You're right," Nick says, his voice now surprisingly calm, "Come on. We'd better get back before it gets dark."

I hadn't realised it, but the sun is already setting. How did that happen? Were we really in here for so long, or are the Gamemakers speeding things up? Probably the latter, considering the amount of time that has passed without anyone dying. It doesn't help that the setting sun is casting all sorts of eerie shadows on the forest floor. It is rather scary, but I don't let my fear show. Nick might see it, and that would not end well at all.

We finally get out of the forest, just as a pounding beat echoes throughout the arena. It's the anthem, playing for the third time. Only tonight, no faces are shown. A whole day without a death. That can't be good for the Capitol audiences. The anthem finishes playing, and by the time we reach the mouth of the Cornucopia, the sight of Ebony and Emerald eating some fruit meets us.

"What happened to the bird?" Nick asks, somewhat disappointed that he isn't getting fresh meat. Or I imagine that's what's wrong with him. It could be something darker, but I don't want to dwell upon the thought.

"Oh, I tried cooking it," Ebony says sheepishly, "But it ended up being a pile of melted flesh, bone and feathers." He lets out a slight chuckle, "Evidently, I'm not going to be a chef like my dad. After all, his skill was so good that the Capitol forced him to change his surname."

"Really?" Emerald asks, intrigued by this information.

"Yeah," Ebony replies, "Our family name was originally Amethyst, but after my dad took up cooking once he became a victor, it was changed to Amaranth. I guess the Capitol thought of it as a cute gimmick or something."

"Makes sense." Ariella says absently, fishing in her bag for a pack of dried nuts. I pull out my own, and chew slowly on a couple of them until the feeling of hunger passes.

We remain like this for a few minutes, until Ebony lets out a yawn.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired." He says, "How's about we catch some sleep, since we have no idea what'll happen tomorrow." We all mutually agree, and soon enough, we're all in our tents, preparing to sleep.

My tent is a dark grey colour, and slightly smaller than the others, but it does an excellent job of trapping the warmth, meaning I won't have to worry about getting cold any time soon. I lay under my blanket, and look up at the roof of my tent. I can see the glow of the moon through the top. It's rather beautiful, the way it sort of shimmers, like a small silvery circle. I feel my eyelids getting heavy, and close them, prepared to sleep.

"Ryder." A voice whispers out, and my eyes snap open. I look around frantically. "Ryder, I'm outside." The voice is odd; it's a faint whisper, and different to the voices of the other Careers. Abandoning all hopes of sleep, I crawl out of my tent, and step onto the silky sand of the beach. Patches of it are still stained with blood, but it's still beautiful.

"Ryder, the water." The voice says, and I walk to the shoreline. I don't know why I'm doing this, but the voice is to captivating that I have no choice but to listen. I reach the edge of the beach, and sit down, the water lapping against my boots. I look forwards, at the ocean. It's very calm, with a few slight movements of the water, but nothing to ever worry about. There's also a patch of rocks just a little out into the water, and I gasp in shock at the figure sat on them.

Somehow, she sits on the rock. Perfectly alive, with no evidence that she was ever in the arena. She looks directly at me, and flashes a smile, her brilliant blue eyes lighting up.

It's Annemarie.


	19. Bittersweet

**Alanna Pyre, 12, District 6 Tribute**

I walk along the smooth rocky surface of the mountain, the moonlight guiding me as I continue to climb. The night seems to have fallen quicker than yesterday, and I think that the Gamemakers are trying to speed things up. There were no faces in the sky during the anthem, and the Capitol always does something whenever a day goes by with no death.

I look back behind me, and see Tyler struggling to climb up the slope. He's great company, but when it comes to things like this, he seems to lag behind. Then again, he did only get a training score of four, so it's to be expected that he'll fall behind.

"Are you okay?" I call back to him. Of course, shouting might get us killed, but we're so high up on the mountain that I doubt anyone would be able to hear us.

"I'm okay," Tyler replies, "It's just that this mountain is so big and I'm tired!" He lets out a yawn, and I sit down, my knees huddled up to my chest, and wait for him to catch up.

To be honest, I have to admire Tyler's spirit. He hasn't had it easy in the arena, barely escaping the bloodbath and the girl from 1 with his life, yet he's still so positive about anything. Even now, as we climb this mountain, he's barely complaining. Finally, I see him make his way up the steep trail that's been laid out on the mountain for us to follow. He staggers over to me, and collapses.

"Tyler, do want to rest for a bit?" I ask, before laughing at my stupidly obvious statement. Of course he needs rest, look at him. But still, he nods his head, and crawls onto his feet.

"That would be great!" He says, his voice bubbly.

Tyler makes his way to the wall of rock, and sits against it, next to me. I look at his arms. They're still healing from the fight with the girl from 1, and he's on his second set of bandages. Some kind soul sponsored me two more rolls of bandages, meaning that I can afford to change them once more. And hopefully, by then, he'll be fully healed.

"Tyler, how do your arms feel?" I ask. I just need to be entirely sure that they're healing at a good pace.

"Fine," He says, "But if you touch them, they get all itchy. But not like an annoying itch, more like a tickling itch." I sigh in relief.

"That's great," I explain to him, "It means that scabs are forming. You should be healed in about two days' time." Upon saying this, I can see the joy as his eyes light up.

"Really?!" He says, giggling slightly, and I can't help but laugh along with him. Tyler's laugh is really contagious if you're exposed to it enough. Luckily, we're far away enough that we can make enough noise to not be found out; leaving the forest has been my best decision so far, since yesterday, I happened to see several massive spiders crawling into there, followed by a series of screams. Nobody died though.

I look back at Tyler, who seems to be fully alert once more. Yet another thing that I'm envious of; Tyler's ability to recover from exhaustion almost immediately. Luckily I'm not that exhausted though.

"Tyler, are you feeling better now?" I ask him as I grab my bottle of water. There's only about a quarter of the water left. I take a small sip, and place it back into my bag. It'll ward off dehydration, but that's about it. Tyler managed to find two full bottles of water on day one, and he's halfway through the first one, so if I have to, I can always drink from his.

"Yeah, I feel great!" He exclaims, letting out another laugh.

"Well, come on." I say, "I want to get to another cave before sunrise."

"Okay then!" Smiling at his enthusiasm, I climb to my feet, using the wall of rock to support me, since I really don't fancy falling to my certain death. Tyler climbs onto his feet as well, and we begin walking up the thin trail once more.

Compared to the forest, the mountain is rather bleak; there aren't any trees that could conceal danger. Which should mean that we'd be able to spot any Muttations quite quickly. But I really hope that no Mutts are thrown at us; we wouldn't be able to take it without potentially sustaining a fatal blow. I glance behind me, at Tyler again. He's humming some sort of tune to himself, and skilfully climbing over several rocks.

I look forward again, and notice something that I wish wasn't there. There's a large ledge that rises above us, cutting off the path. The path probably continues on above it, meaning we'll have to climb up there.

"Tyler," I call back to him, uncertain of whether or not he'll be able to actually manage to climb up, "We have to scale this wall to continue upwards. Are you up to it?"

"Oh, boy!" Tyler cries out in response to my question, "I love climbing things! You remember the play park near the town square? Well, I could climb everything there really quickly!" That's good. Now all I have to do is hope that his arms allow for him to do it alright.

"Come on then." I say wearily, suddenly becoming aware of my fatigue. How wonderful. But I have to keep myself going, as dozing off is not an option. And I managed to learn the hard way how hard it is to keep awake for days on end; sleeping whilst your older brother is fighting for his life in the Hunger Games is simply not possible.

_I rub my eyes again, in a futile effort to avoid falling asleep. But I can't fall asleep. Not now. If I fall asleep, I might never see Olyver again._

_I return my attention to the screen in front of me. He's still walking around in the sewers, but he isn't looking so good now. His clothes are ripped, and there is blood flowing from several of his wounds. His hair is matted and coated in blood, and his face is torn to pieces. He is also limping slightly, which probably means that he broke his leg._

_But it isn't surprising that he's like that; he had managed to escape from that hideous sewer monster that ate his allies. All of them, except for Elektra, the brown haired girl from District 3. She also managed to escape, but she found the boy and the girl from District 12. I remember the announcer saying how odd it is that both tributes from District 12 are still alive; apparently they are usually the first to be killed. I wish Olyver managed to meet up with them as well._

_A noise echoes throughout the sewers, and I see Olyver's expressions become terrified. He begins limping faster, and a fear begins to build up inside my body. What if that noise tries to kill him? I don't want that to happen; it can't! He promised me that he'd come home when he was reaped! And not even the Hunger Games will be able to stop him from keeping that promise._

_Suddenly, he begins to run forwards, and his face lights up in joy. What's making him happy? Just as I think this, the camera zooms further ahead of him, and I see the staggering form of Elektra. Out of all the tributes, I think that she's had it worst. She barely avoided getting killed by tracker jackers on the first day, and she had her arm horribly broken after being pushed out of a window by a Career boy. _

_I yawn again, and my eyes close for a few seconds, before I force them open once more. Elektra's seen Olyver, and is running over to him, her face also in a smile. The two reach each other, and they stand close, their shadows being illuminated by the river of toxic waste to the side of them._

_"Elektra! You're alive!" He cries out, and I'm sure that if they weren't both horribly injured, they'd have hugged. "I managed to find the golden ladder!" When he says this, Elektra's face lights up further. Oh, yeah, the golden ladder was the one that would take them to the feast. I hope that Olyver manages to get to the feast; the announcer said that it contained the one thing that each tribute needs to win. And Olyver will win; a promise is a promise._

_"And now, with the feast going on," He continues, his voice full of joy. When he's happy, his voice sounds so light and airy, almost as if he's always on the verge of laughing. It's one of the things that my mother told the Capitol people when they came to interview us about Olyver. I have to agree; it is one of the things that makes him him. "We may have a chance to-"_

_He's cut off by what I can only describe as the most horrifying sound; I can hear it clearly even through my television. The sound of the monster in the sewers, mixed with the terrified screams of the two tributes from District 12. The camera cuts to them as they run, their faces plastered with terror. And just a little further behind them is the monster, its huge form striking fear into the core of my body. It's now that I realise how close it is to Olyver, and what it'll mean if it gets him._

_"Run!" I scream at my television, my voice hoarse and filled with terror. But it does nothing, and Olyver remains still, until the beast pounds towards him. _

_At once, all four tributes run down the sewers, away from the beast. But it's no good; it matches their pace almost perfectly. The feeling of sheer terror is building up inside me once more, and I fear for Olyver's life. The monster swipes its massive claws, catching the bags of Elektra and the boy from District 12. They fall off of their backs, and into the toxic waste, dissolving instantly. _

_Elektra and the boy from 12 duck to the floor as the monster strikes again, this time grabbing Olyver. My blood runs to ice as it grabs him in its massive hand like appendage, and lifts him towards its mouth._

_"No!" I scream, now pounding the television in some sort of desperate attempt to get it to let go. "Get off him!" Tears are now running down my face, my body going weak, "Oly! Get out of there! Please!" It doesn't work, and Olyver begins to struggle frantically as the monster's mouth begins to open, revealing the rows and rows of razor sharp teeth._

_My heart sinks deep inside of me, and shatters as the entire upper section of Olyver vanishes into the deadly mouth. His muffled cries sound out above everything else, including the screams of horror from Elektra and both from District 12. Suddenly, I spot movement from inside the mouth, and something is pushing against its cheeks. I then notice Olyver's legs kicking and squirming. He's fighting back!_

_"Come on!" I yell, shaking in apprehension and fear. He can't die, and he won't die. I just know he'll escape this._

_The force of Olyver's struggling seems to be affecting the monster, as it is beginning to wobble and stumble backwards into the wall of the sewer. I see Elektra run out from where it's falling, and she lets out a cry of horror. I have no idea why; Olyver's going to get out!_

_But then, the brief glimmer of hope I've been holding on to vanishes, and I look on in despair as the monster crashes into the wall. Thousands of cracks form along the walls, roof, and ground, and Elektra and the pair from 12 run away, leaving Olyver alone. As soon as they're clear of the cracked section, everything caves in and collapses, leaving a pile of cracked chunks of rock and metal, the moonlight casting a sombre glow on the wide hole in the middle of the street. The camera zooms in on the girl from District 11, who's hiding inside a nearby building. Her face is one of surprise and shock, and she runs out from the building, and down the street, checking the floor for cracks._

_BOOM!_

_The sound reaches my ears, and a hysterical sob burst from my lips. No, it can't be! Maybe someone else died. Yeah, that's it, someone else died. It can't be Olyver, it just can't! But my delusion is shattered as the death report shows on the screen for all to see, horribly echoing Miles' death four years ago._

_OLYVER PYRE, 16, DISTRICT 6 MALE TRIBUTE_

_ELIMINATED: DAY 8, 04:20_

_PLACED 8TH_

_It feels as if everything has drained from me, and I'm nothing but a hollow shell, staring at the words on the screen. Thirteen words have succeeded in completely destroying my person._

_The replay begins to show, but I've lost focus, and instead, I'm eagerly accepting the welcoming clutches of sleep._

That was the first time I really went without sleep, and why would I have slept back then? It's kind of impossible when you're forced to watch your closest family member fight to the death, and fail horribly. Olyver had come so close to victory. The Games ended that evening. He was only sixteen hours away from coming home.

Shaking away the memory, I begin to scale the rock wall in front of me. It seems that there are actually a few foot holds for me to use, and I'm soon climbing it with relative ease. I resist the urge to look back down at Tyler, since my first order of business is to get myself up here safely.

Finally, I reach the top, and sit down for a moment, catching my breath. It seems that the wall isn't as high as I originally though. I pull out my water, and take another sip from it. I don't know why, but I'm feeling more and more dehydrated with every activity that I do. Maybe it's something to do with being higher up than usual.

Once I feel somewhat better, I crawl over to the edge, and look down. Tyler's currently climbing up, his face red from the effort.

"How are you holding up?" I ask him, my tone indicating concern. Since if there's one thing we don't want, it's Tyler reopening his wounds.

"I'm fine, Alanna," Tyler replies, "Stop asking. You sound like my mother." For some unexplainable reason, I find this hilarious, and begin to laugh. And not just a regular laugh; the spasms of joy are causing my stomach to hurt.

I'm so engrossed in my laughter, that I don't notice Tyler as he climbs over the edge. He gets his whole body over, and collapses on the floor breathing heavily; a combination of exhaustion and injury. He remains like this for a few moments, before he stands up, and breathes heavily, as if inhaling. But inhaling what, exactly? I follow his lead, and stand up, taking in a deep breath, and the scent is so delightful that I can't really be smelling it.

It smells like the bakery back home on the weekends when I walk past it; Saturdays are the days that they prepare various sweet baked goods, such as cookies and cakes. And right now, the entire mountain side smells just like it. I have to physically stop myself from salivating by swallowing hard several times, but it doesn't stop the growling of my stomach. No, that's still going strong.

"I think it's coming from further up the mountain." Tyler says, and for some reason, his tone seems different. Calmer, and more mature. Perhaps I'm seeing him in a different light. Instead of a bubbling ball of hyperactive annoyance that is akin to a living personification of a sugar rush, I'm seeing an intelligent boy, with boundless energy, and a warm sense of humour that is never offensive. And for some unknown reason, whenever we talk, or get close, a strange warmth builds up inside my body. It's an odd feeling, but a good one.

I return my attention to Tyler, and see him running up the path again. I look further ahead, and see what he's running towards; there's a large cavern opening just a little further up the mountain.

"Hey, wait up!" I call towards him, and run up after him, a light hearted giggle escaping my lips. Responding to my calls, Tyler slows down, and we're soon both running up the mountain side by side.

As we run, I find myself focusing on his face. It has a boyish charm, but his eyes carry a slight air of maturity. Speaking of his eyes, they are such a deep shade of green that you can't help but feel captivated by them. I let out a slight sigh, and warmth floods into my cheeks. It is such a wonderful feeling. I then notice that the speed that we're running at is causing his hair to bounce slightly. It's a light shade of brown, reminding me of the chocolate that I ate whilst in the Capitol, and always has a soft, shiny quality to it. The slightly long, windswept style that it's always in only helps to make it look more attractive on him.

The warm feeling returns, only this time more intense, and I reach my hand out without even realising I'm doing it. In response, Tyler grabs it, and we run closer to the sweet cavern hand in hand. It's sheer bliss, and every second that we hold hands, the warmth grows in intensity, and I just want to melt.

Finally, we reach the top of the path, and we stand at the entrance of the cavern. The mouth is huge, like a deep massive hole that seems to go on forever, but I notice a faint glimmer of light at the end of it. So it's more of a natural tunnel than anything else, although everything in this arena is far from natural. Everything, except for one thing.

"So, Alanna, are you sure about-" Tyler begins, but he's cut off by me. In a split second, driven by inner desire, I have my lips pressed against his own. The warm feeling is potent all over my body, a deep hunger to kiss Tyler growing with every second. At first he resists, perhaps stunned, but he soon gives in, and our lips are locked together in the ultimate display of passion. And it feels great.

Tyler eventually breaks off, and I'm left in a daze of sheer joy. That was the greatest thing I have ever experienced in my life, and everything seems to have a warm glow to it.

"Alanna, what was that about?" Tyler asks, his bubbly tone on the verge of a deep laugh.

"I just had to do it once." I reply. It's true; something about Tyler has just clicked with me, and I just want to spend the rest of my life staring into his shining green eyes, and soft brown hair.

It is now that I realise something that, less than a week ago, I would have said that I'd rather saw off my own legs; I am in love with Tyler Hawes. I don't really believe in all of the spiritual things about deities and destiny, but now I feel that me and Tyler being together was fated from the moment we met one another. It would explain it; he has been constantly consuming my thoughts every single day of the Games.

As the buzz of the kiss wears off, I return my attention to the large tunnel.

"So," I begin, completely aware of my blush, "We're going in, right?"

"Of course," Tyler replies, a dopey smile on his face, "I'll do whatever you want to do."

"Come on, then." I say, and we both walk into the tunnel.

As soon as we step inside, the smell of sugar grows in intensity, until it overrides even my passionate desires for Tyler. I let out a cough as it burns my lungs. Tyler is choking as well, and I quickly realise we've fallen into a Gamemaker trap.

"Tyler!" I call out, light headed, but before I do anything else, a blinding light appears from somewhere, illuminating the cavern in a soft pink glow. Along the walls and roof of the cavern, I see small cupcakes lining the surface, emitting some odd powder. This must be where the sweet scent is coming from.

I look over to Tyler, who is staring at the ground, looking confused. I look too, and let out a mixture between a laugh and a startled scream. There is a creature that looks like a caterpillar doing some sort of bizarre dance on the ground, the patterns on its green skin flashing. It is all extremely surreal, but throughout this strange experience, a slight feeling of terror resides at the edges of my mind.

Then, it hits me like a ton of bricks. Extremely odd visions, and a feeling of terror. We're being gassed with tracker jacker venom.

"We have to get out of here!" I yell to Tyler, and grab his hand. But as I drag him to the entrance, I see something that completely crushes my plans of escape. The entrance is closing up, and I watch in horror as a now sparkling wall replaces the entrance. We're trapped, with only one direction to go. Forwards.

"Alanna, you look so silly!" Tyler giggles, his eyes glazed slightly. Panic grips me as I realise that Tyler's been claimed by the hallucinations. We need to get out, and quickly.

Still holding his hand, I stumble forwards through the cavern, the cupcakes releasing more and more hallucination causing gas, and I cover my face with my shirt to avoid inhaling too much. Tyler, however, is completely at the mercy of the gas. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be deadly as much as it is confusing.

A tinny tune begins to play out of nowhere, sounding like a horribly out of tune version of the Capitol anthem played at odd timings. Yet another trick of the gas. I try to ignore the sensory overload as best I can, but I'm quickly distracted by the feeling of something falling from the roof, hitting me.

Rolls of bread are falling from the sky, pounding on my head, hitting Tyler as well. I look back at Tyler, and see him holding one of the rolls with a free hand. Another wave of panic hits me as I see him bring it to his mouth, and take a bite. But absolutely nothing happens, and Tyler simply makes a satisfied groan. Yet again, the gas is forcing me to worry about everything. It's probably just stale bread, or it isn't really there. This causes another stab of panic. Is anything in here actually real? Perhaps not, and this trap is going to cause me to go insane thinking that nothing is real.

Swallowing my fear, I grip Tyler's hand harder, and dart towards the one clear spot in this wave of madness; the end of the tunnel.

"Alanna, the smell is making me feel sick." I hear Tyler moan, but I don't turn around. I can address him once we get out of here, before the gas claims our sanity.

But before I can get much further, I'm stopped by something that causes a strangled scream to come out of my lips. Standing right in front of us, letting out a deep groan, is the same sewer monster that killed Olyver. Panic takes over, and I sink my head to cover my ears with my shoulders.

"Go away!" I scream at it, "You can't be real! You just can't!" I look up at it again, and it begins to groan in time with the anthem of Panem. The music begins to increase in pitch, getting louder and faster and squeakier, and the normal peach coloured flesh of the horrific Mutt is turning purple. It is grating on my ears more than the high piping voice of our escort, and I didn't think such a thing was possible. And then, just when I think I'm going to lose myself to the madness, a loud explosion sounds out.

_**BOOM!**_

I clench Tyler's hand harder as I watch the Mutt explode into a cloud of butterflies, the insects swarming around us, the anthem ceasing to play, instead being replaced by an odd sound that reminds me of laughing, crying, and choking all in one. I want to do nothing but scream and curl up. But I can't; I have to get both me and Tyler out of here.

"Come on!" I call back to him, and with speeds that I thought I wasn't capable of doing, burst towards the clear patch.

I succeed in doing so, and the moment the outside air greets me, the cave seals shut, and the sweet smell vanishes. It takes me a moment to regain my senses, but the shiny glow vanishes from everything, and my head clears.

"Tyler, that was close." I begin, turning to face him, "How are you- Oh God!"

The only thing I'm aware of my body doing is shaking uncontrollably, and that warm, salty tears are flowing down my face. My eyes are shut from the horror of the scene in front of me, but I force my eyes to open.

The first thing that I notice is that Tyler's grip has gone slack, and the colour of his face has gone from a healthy pink to a deathly white. If that was all, I would simply think that he's gone into shock from the hallucinations. But the thing that has completely crushed every feeling in my body is the constant stream of blood that is flowing from his still mouth.

"Tyler!" I scream, louder than I should be, and release my grip on him. He slumps to the floor, in a heap, a small pool of blood forming from his mouth, "Tyler! Come on, you have to get up!" I start to shake him, "Please, get up!" My voice breaks on that last sentence, and a wave of sobs causes me to shudder. "Tyler, please!"

But it's too late. I can't do anything. There is only one clear thought in my head, one that I never hoped I'd have to think: Tyler Hawes is quite clearly dead.

"But how?!" I yell at his lifeless body, "How did you die?!" My voice sounds more like a strangled sob than anything else, and my body is being taken over by sobbing shudders.

My eyes then move down his pale corpse, until I see the half eaten roll of bread. It's still in his limp hand, and from the outside, looks like a reasonably fresh roll of bread, nothing more. But I have some feeling inside of me that this bread is to blame; somehow, I just know it.

Acting on this impulsive instinct, I grab the roll of bread out of Tyler's limp hand; the hand slumps to the floor, and I check it over. My eyes then settle on where he began to eat it, and then I see the filling.

What appears to be pitch black jam is slowly oozing from the centre of the roll, staining the white colouring of the insides of the bread a horrible dark colour. Tentatively, I bring it closer to my nose, and smell it cautiously. As soon as the sickeningly sour scent reaches my nostrils, I scream in horror, and throw the bread blindly away from me.

Nightlock juice. That is what the rolls of bread that rained down on us were filled with. I should have checked to see for myself, instead of assuming that they would be fine. And now, Tyler's dead. All because I wasn't as observant as I should have been.

"I'm so sorry," I say, huddling up to Tyler's cold body, the blood from his mouth flowing onto my hand as it rests on his face, "I'm sorry Tyler! I didn't mean for you to die! Please don't leave me! Please!" My cries are desperate and empty, and I know that nothing I can do will bring Tyler back, just like nothing could save Miles. Or Olyver.

That's three people I've lost to the Games. Three good, innocent people, who had their lives cut short, and I couldn't do anything to save them. Except Tyler. I could have done so much to prevent his death. I shouldn't have paid so much attention to the terrifying hallucination; I'm stronger than that. I could have fought against the gas, and saved Tyler!

Then again, I should have also realised that the explosion in the tunnel that I thought was caused by the sewer monster sounded awfully like the cannon that has marked the deaths of tributes for 68 years. How could I have been so stupid?

"Please, forgive me." I whisper to Tyler, even though I know that he will never hear me, or do anything again. His life has been so tragically cut short, and all because I didn't get him out of that cave fast enough. As I think this, another feeling creeps into my body, one that when I vocalise, I sound like a tiny child again, too young to be subjected to such horrors.

"I want go home."

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I collapse in a heap of exhaustion and emotions. Tyler's dead, I'm stuck on a mountain with very few supplies, and someone could kill me at any given moment. Already I'm missing his company.

Then, a faint humming noise reaches my ears, and I look up to see a hovercraft appearing above my head, to take Tyler away for good. But I'm not done with him. Desperately, I pull off his bag, and set it away from him. I then reach over to his face, and close his eyes, giving him one last kiss on his freezing cold forehead.

"Goodbye, Tyler." I whisper, before grabbing his bag, and inching away from him, watching as the hovercraft lifts him up. It vanishes, and the only evidence that Tyler Hawes was ever in this arena is the small puddle of blood where he was mere seconds ago.

But instead of crushing sorrow at the removal of Tyler's corpse, a new feeling inches into my system, one that might be even stronger than fear, stronger than love, stronger than sadness: Determination.

Determination to show up the Capitol; to come home, and continue Tyler's memory. Determination to make sure that no life that was claimed in the Hunger Games is ever forgotten.

I open Tyler's bag, and empty the contents into my own. But as the last of it falls in, I notice an object that might help in my mission; a permanent marker pen. I grab it, and walk over to the sealed wall of the tunnel.

I then press it down on the wall, and begin to write. This is perhaps the most important thing I have ever written, so it must be perfect, and clearly written. Eventually, I finish, and look at my message, to show the world that those who have died will not be forgotten.

_Rest in peace, Tyler Hawes._

_You died thirteen years too young._

_And may the memory of the other tributes who perish here never be forgotten._

_-A. Pyre, twelve years old_

Smiling at my message, I wipe the tears from my eyes, and walk away, continuing my trail up the mountain, a warm glow fills my body. It doesn't feel like what I felt when I was with Tyler, it is more of an internal message to the world.

I will not die in this arena; I will come home; I will continue the memory of the fallen tributes; I will not be forgotten.


	20. All for Her

**Ryder Bristen, 18, District 4 Tribute**

_**BOOM!**_

The sound of the cannon echoing out startles me, and I redirect my attention to the sky for a brief moment, before looking back at Annemarie.

Somehow, some way, Annemarie managed to survive the Cornucopia explosion. And the proof is her standing in front of me now, flashing that same warm smile that she has always had since the day we first met.

"So," I begin to her as she leans on the Cornucopia, the moonlight casting a serene glow on her sun kissed face. "How did you manage to survive the bloodbath?" I have been wanting to know since I first saw her sitting on the rocks out in the ocean a little while ago.

"Oh, that..." Annemarie trails off, and gazes off into the distance. It's almost as if something's spacing her out, "Well, let's just say that it wasn't too easy."

"I can imagine." I reply, realising how futile it'll be to argue my point with her. So, I let it slip, and an idea comes to me.

"Shouldn't we go see the others?" I suggest, "Since I'm pretty sure that Ariella will appreciate the company." Upon saying this, the oddest thing happens. Annemarie's eyes suddenly darken, and her entire body stiffens up. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask her, since the last thing we want is her getting sick just as we've reunited.

"I'm just fine," She replies coldly, "It's just that I've been thinking."

"About what?" I ask. Since I can quite clearly imagine that there has been a lot on her mind over the past three days that we've been separated. I know that I would have a thousand things to say to someone if I had vanished off of the face of the Earth, and was presumed to be dead by the one I love the most.

"About this whole alliance," Annemarie begins to explain, "Look, Ryder. There's less than half of us remaining."

"What are you implying?" I ask, with an underlying tone of suspicion. If I have any form of intuition, I'm pretty sure of what she's about to ask.

"So, I'm thinking that we ditch them." Bingo. "After all, I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to grab enough supplies, and run off before they notice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the rest of the Careers have perfect body clocks which allows them to wake with the sun."

"Yeah," I reply. It is true; that's one of the things they teach in the training centres in 1 and 2; how to maintain an internal body clock which allows you to always wake with the rising sun. Back in 4, however, we're only taught how to sleep lightly. Then again, we train for the Games for entirely different reasons. We only do it to ensure that if we are reaped, we can have better chances at survival, and to take the place of any reaped tribute that we know will perish horribly in a way that their parents don't deserve to see. We're in it for survival, not for glory.

"So," Annemarie finally says, her eyes widening, a slightly seductive smile crossing her face, "What do you say? Will you join me in ditching these guys?" She sticks a hand out, and bats her eyelids softly. And in that moment, any resistance that I've been building up fades away into nothing but an overwhelming will to not disappoint Annemarie.

"Fine," I reply shortly, "But you're going to be responsible for your equipment." As she hears my reply, Annemarie's face lights up, and she lets out a light giggle. It causes butterflies to pound in my stomach. It's been so long since I've had that feeling.

Carefully, we sneak away from the shoreline, and head towards the mouth of the golden horn. I can hear a light snoring sound coming from one of the tents, and for a brief moment, I feel remorse at abandoning my allies like this, especially with Nick's fragile mental state; it'll be entirely Ariella's burden.

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?" I hear Annemarie ask, and I turn my head to face her. She has a disapproving glare etched onto her face, and I feel deflated just by not agreeing with her. I don't know why my usual strong will is completely non-existent right now; I guess I just don't want to lose Annemarie again.

"No, I'm not," I explain, "I'm just trying to judge how long we'll have before they begin to follow us." It's not entirely true, but is is something that I've been thinking over. I know that me and Annemarie are quite fast runners, but would we be able to outrun Ebony? Or would we have any hope in evading Ariella's arrows? Probably not.

"That is a problem," Annemarie says, "But we'll address it when it becomes a major issue. For now, let's focus on getting out of here."

I nod in agreement, and walk into my tent, leaving Annemarie outside for a moment. Despite the small size, the tent manages to hold my two bags full of food, water, and medical supplies, and my trident. I grab it all, and place my blanket into my larger bag. I look over the tent once more, and realise how bare it looks right now. I would take the tent as well, but that's pretty heavy, and we need to get out of here before sunrise.

Satisfied that I've managed to salvage enough, I walk out of my tent, and zip it shut, making it look as if I'm still in there. I turn to face Annemarie, and give her the lighter bag.

"Here," I tell her, "This should be enough for you."

"Thanks." She replies with a smile, "Only, one thing, Ryder. I feel rather unarmed." Oh. Of course, Annemarie needs a weapon. But since I have the only trident in the Games, I'll have to give her one of Ebony's spears. Hopefully, he has one laying around outside.

"Just give me a minute, and I'll see if I can get you one without being killed." I reply flatly. I really don't want to do this, but since it's Annemarie, I'll just have to grin and bear it.

Holding my breath, I make my way to Ebony's tent. Somehow, he managed to get the largest tent out of all of us, but I guess none of us complained since we don't want too much conflict. I can hear the faint sound of Ebony breathing. Judging from the way he's breathing, he's fast asleep. Good.

I walk up to the front of the tent, and begin to look around it for a spear.

"Come on, Ebony..." I murmur under my breath, "Please, have a spear available." I walk around to the back of the tent, after realising that there aren't any weapons near the front entrance. Just as I make my way to the back of the tent, I trip on something, and fall face first into the sand.

As I stand up, I can quite clearly hear Annemarie laughing, and loudly. I spit the sand out of my mouth, and motion for her to keep quiet. She stops laughing, and I look down at what caused me to trip. The moment I look at it, I feel a sort of elation. It's a spear, And it's in perfect condition. The smile on my face must be huge, because I can quite clearly see Annemarie's face light up from here.

"You found one!" She exclaims, and I nod, picking it up, placing it in my other hand.

"Indeed I did." I reply, and walk over to her. I hand her the spear, and she gives me a light kiss on the cheek. It feels ecstatic.

However, our moment of relief is cut off by a sound. I instantly recognise it as the sound of a tent being opened. I look to Annemarie, and see the terror plastered on her face. Oh, right. According to everyone else, she's dead in a coffin in the Capitol, ready to be transported home once the Games end.

"What do I do?!" She questions, her voice frantic. I look at the tree line that surrounds the beach, and point towards the entrance to the forest closest to the shoreline.

"Hide in there," I tell her, my voice low and harsh, "I'll go see you once I've dealt with this." She nods furiously, and vanishes into the foliage.

I look back at the opening tent. It's Ariella's. This isn't good, since it's practically impossible to flat out lie to her. I need to look like I'm doing something out here, but what? I take one look at my trident, and another at the ocean. It'll be a long shot, but I have to go for it.

Setting my bag behind the Cornucopia, out of sight, I tug my shirt off, and holding my trident, leap into the water. I continue to go deeper, until only my torso is clearly visible above the water. I hold my trident in an attacking position, and look intensely at the water.

"Ryder, what the hell are you doing?" Acting startled, I turn around, and look at her. Her eyes are heavy, but her body language gives away her confusion.

"Fishing," I reply, a smile crossing onto my face. Then again, I have to smile; the water is freezing cold at night.

"Fishing." She says flatly. Oh great, she isn't buying it. "Ryder, it's like two in the morning, or something. Why on Earth are you fishing at this hour." She grimaces, and wipes her eyes, "Please don't tell me you've come down with the crazies too."

"No, I haven't," I say, "It's just that the fish are easiest to catch at this time of day."

"Well, you're the expert." She says wearily, "I'm too tired to argue with you. Just don't spend all night out here; I'll need you tomorrow to keep a close eye on Nick. He isn't talking in his sleep right now, but that could change at any time."

"Alright then." I say, and she nods, ambling back to her tent. I keep watching her as she crawls inside, zipping it back up. A few minutes later, she is asleep again. That was far too close for my liking.

I swim back to the shoreline, and the warmer air of the night quickly takes the chill off of my exposed upper body. But I don't know why I am complaining. Back home, I always go fishing like this, no exceptions.

I walk over to the Cornucopia, and grab my shirt and bag. I swing the bag on, and drape my shirt over my shoulder. I'll have to wait until I dry out before I can put it back on again without trapping the chill of the water for longer. But it doesn't matter; Annemarie's seen me in this state pretty much every day.

Walking towards the trees, I scan them for any signs of movement. None. She's better at hiding than I thought.

"Annemarie?" I call softly, "It's safe now." As I finish saying this, one of the trees rustles like crazy, before Annemarie throws herself out from it, tackling me to the ground.

"Ryder, I'm so glad you managed to get out of that!" She says with a slight giggle, and I can feel the sand sticking to my bare back; it isn't a good feeling at all.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy, but I managed." I reply, sitting up. I look to my right, and see my shirt laying in the sand. Brilliant. I sacrified cold water for sand. Perhaps I should have just said that I was having trouble sleeping. I stand up, and try to wipe the sand from my back as best I can. Most of it comes off with relative ease.

"Great!" Annemarie exclaims, and I smile at her. She is so adorable when she's excited.

I bend over, and pick up my shirt, tucking it into my waistband. I then return my attention to Annemarie, who is looking quite enthusiastic.

"So," I begin, "Where are we going?"

"Oh, yeah!" She replies, giggling slightly. Everything about her is so attractive, and I could just listen to her laugh all day. But not right now. We still have to get out of here. "There's a little beachside cave just a little further along the island. We can use the forest to get there without being detected by any other tributes." That makes sense. The forest will provide excellent cover, so long as a Muttation doesn't try to kill us. Outrunning that giant spider the other day was hard enough; I don't need a repeat of that.

"Okay then, let's go." I say, and begin to walk towards the trees, Annemarie right behind me.

Some type of bird is calling out in the night, the sound echoing throughout the trees. It sends a slight chill down my spine, but I ignore it, instead listening to the slight sound of the waves sliding up to the small cliffside that is just to my right. I miss the sound of the ocean back home; this one feels too false. But I'll take whatever comforts I can get.

A small lizard leaps out from a tree, and lands on the floor in front of me. It looks up at us with bright red eyes that are glowing in the dark. Then, after a few moments, it runs off, leaving me and Annemarie alone once more. We continue forwards through the forest, and I begin to notice we've been following the curve of the island for some time. However, I can't quite shake off the feeling that we're being watched. It's probably just paranoia since we've abandoned the Careers.

"Hey, Annemarie," I begin, stifling a yawn as best I can, "How much longer until we reach the cave?"

"Not long now, Ryder." Annemarie replies softly, and I look ahead again, realising that she is right. I can see the exit to the forest just a little further ahead. An idea comes to me as the exit draws closer and closer, one that I know Annemarie will love.

"Annemarie, how about a race to the end? I'm sure I will win." I say, a smug smirk growing on my face.

"Just because I've not seen any action for the past few days doesn't mean I won't win, you know." She says, and before she can carry on, I dart off ahead.

"See you at the loser's bench!" I call back, and I hear her let out a disgruntled cry.

"Oh, you won't win, Ryder Bristen!"

I'm nearly at the end of the forest path; I can see the expanse of soft, fresh, untouched sand, when the most remarkable thing happens. Annemarie comes up from behind, with incredible speeds, and overtakes me, darting onto the beach. No way! I always manage to win when we do this!

Driven by determination, and curiosity of how she managed to beat me, I run at my top speed towards Annemarie, and end up collapsing in a heap on the sand, breathing heavily. The sand feels so soft on my now dry exposed back, like the blankets back home. I could just remain here all day.

"Seems you won," I say, looking up at Annemarie, "How'd you do it?"

"I don't know," She says with a smirk, "Maybe I just felt extra competitive today." Annemarie sits down, next to me, and I sit up, looking around. To our left is a series of caves, but I'm more interested in what lies to our right.

I turn to look at it, and gape in awe at what I'm seeing. This deposit of sand is at the top of a cliff which drops steeply into the clear blue ocean below, and just beyond the horizon, the sun is beginning to poke its head up, causing a golden shimmer to appear on the water. It looks like the water is sparkling.

"Look at this," I say to Annemarie as I move over to the edge of the cliff, letting my legs dangle over the edge, the first signs of heat from the sun warming my body.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Annemarie says as she sits next to me, stroking my hair with her hands. It is perhaps the most relaxed I've felt since coming into the arena; it's almost like when I take Annemarie out back home.

But instead of remaining like we are, Annemarie's head stroking evolves into something more passionate, and I find the breath taken from my body as she lays me down on the sand, straddling over me, a look of desire in her eyes.

"Annemarie?" I ask, but I'm cut off as her fingers trail from my hair, down across my face, and down my neck. It's sending an almost static charge throughout my body, and I do nothing but smile warmly. Her fingers trace over my chest, and work their way to the six pack on my abdomen. My entire body is tingling, and she pulls in for a kiss. But this kiss is different; more powerful; more desirable.

Annemarie kisses harder, and I push back, my mind only focusing on keeping this feeling going for as long as possible. But then, another sensation fills my body; intense pain.

I open my eyes, and look up at Annemarie as an excruciating agony radiates from my stomach. But when I look at Annemarie, the life has gone from her eyes.

"Annemarie?" I try to say, but it sounds like a garbled mess of nonsense as the taste of blood fills my mouth, and I can't help but let it flow down my tanned body, staining me a deep red. Annemarie gets off of me, and I see what's causing the pain; she's shoved a spear into my body, and blood is spurting from the wound, staining the pure white sand.

Panic fills my body as I look back at Annemarie, only it isn't Annemarie any more. It's a scaly humanoid creature, with a slick fish tail, and dark eyes that radiate evil. It's like an even more twisted version of the sirens that my mother told me about in bedtime stories as a child. As I stare in horror at this entire scene, a crushing blow hits me. Annemarie was never here; it was a Muttation all along.

I was fooled by a Mutt. A creature designed by the Capitol. The Capitol. Rage fills my every being, and I want to loudly voice my opinions, but the intense pain stops me. My eyes roll into the back of my head for a brief moment as the Muttation pulls the spear out of my body, causing more blood to flow out. I'm feeling light headed now, and moving is causing more pain than it's worth. I look up at the Mutt, and it's preparing to shove the spear into my throat, which will certainly cause instant death.

Suddenly, an arrow flies from the sky, and strikes the Mutt, catching it off guard. Several more follow it, and it wobbles, black blood oozing from where it was hit.

"Get away from him!" I feebly look to see Ariella running up the beach, her dark eyes filled with rage, "Go die!" She fires another arrow, this time striking the creature's throat. It convulses, before it collapses, and begins to slip off the cliff, bleeding to death.

"Thanks." I say to Ariella, ignoring the blood that is still coming from my mouth; she just saved my life. But a different expression is on her face than the relief I expected: Sheer horror.

I open my mouth to ask what's the matter, but suddenly, I'm being pulled towards the edge of the cliff, the movement causing more blood to spurt from the gaping hole in my stomach. I look down at my leg, and see the hand of the Mutt grabbing onto it as it slips. I turn my head back to Ariella, who's rushing to grab my hands. But it's too late, and I'm now falling off the cliff, the Mutt losing its grip on my.

"Oh god, no! Ryder!" I hear Ariella say, but I'm halfway down the cliff when she finishes the exclamation. It's too late to do anything, and as I look down, past my bloody torso, to the water, I realise that I'm probably going to die.

I hit the water, and keep going down, my wound intensifying in agony. I want to scream, but a stream of blood red bubbles floats up. I try to swim upwards, but this only causes me to sink faster. The water begins to grow cold, and it begins to get darker. I'm getting deeper and deeper.

I begin to feel a painful pressure all over my body, and I begin to feel faint. Suddenly, my body gasps for air, and salty water floods my mouth and windpipe, causing me to choke up a red cloud that floats up.

But for some reason, I find this highly Ironic. A District 4 tribute, drowning to death. If it wasn't happening to me right now, I would probably be laughing.

With this humorous thought in my head, my vision fades, and everything grows dark, and the crushing feeling of the water, and the pain from my stomach, disappear. And, faintly, I hear a distant noise, before nothingness takes over.

_**BOOM!**_


	21. The Extent of Friendship

**Maia Kentner, 16, District 5 Tribute**

I sit at the mouth of the cavern, my legs huddled up to my chest. In the past four hours, two more tributes have perished. I have no idea who it was, though, except that it wasn't me or Afya. But I guess we'll find out tonight who has died. Part of me hopes that no more die, but another part of me hopes that somehow, the Games end today, and I go home. But I know that it won't happen, and besides, what exactly do I have to return to? Two abusive parents that cheered when I was reaped. Just like four years ago with Lucas. That's one thing I don't understand; they seemed to hate us for no apparent reason.

But it's not worth dwelling upon at all, and I shake my head to clear the thought out. It doesn't work, but the dizziness gives me something else to focus my mind on. I look forward, and at the slowly rising sun. It's beautiful, but after the cannon that fired earlier, it only reminds me of death. Yet another simple pleasure in life tainted by these Games.

"Good morning, Maia." I turn around, and face Afya, who's just woken up. "Couldn't sleep?" She asks. I simply shake my head, suddenly feeling rather chilled.

"Two more." I reply, and Afya looks at me quizzically, "Two more cannons fired in the night. Two more are dead, Afya." She looks remorseful for a moment, but soon regains her regular expression.

"It's sad, I know," She says softly, "But think about it as two less opponents to have to kill. And besides, I'm pretty sure the afterlife is much better than where we are now." This causes me to laugh slightly, and the growing apprehension that has been building up since the first cannon fired fades away just like that. That's one of the things that I appreciate about Afya; she can always make the situation that much more bearable.

"So, what's our plan for today?" I ask, before the familiar growl of hunger reaches my ears. This time, it's Afya who's laughing.

"I'd say breakfast." She says, still giggling. I nod in agreement, and pull out my bag of nuts, and my canteen of water. I eat about two handfuls of nuts, and take a few sips of my water. It's now definitely gotten to the point where we're not eating to keep our nutrition levels up; the small amounts we have are barely taking the edge off the pains brought on by the lack of food. I know it's the Hunger Games, but come on. Would it really be too hard for them to give us some food every now and again?

After what could barely pass for a meal, I stand up, and look out over the island once more. The sun's much higher in the sky, and I can clearly see the Cornucopia from here. There are now five tents set up around it, and four large figures are standing near the mouth of the golden horn. They look like they're talking. It doesn't take a genius to realise that they are the Careers, only there seems to be something wrong with the head count. There are five tents, and four Careers.

"Hey, Afya," I say as she also stands up, "I think one of the Careers died last night." For a brief moment, I see her eyes light up at the thought, before her face hardens.

"They obviously deserved it." She says harshly, and looks up at the mountain. "I think we should be going soon, Maia. It's never good to stay in the same place too long." She's right. And especially after that incident with the spiders in the forest, no place seems safe enough.

I put my bag on, and pull out my knife. It's not the greatest weapon, but it is better than going around with nothing to defend myself with. Placing it in my belt, we begin to walk up the mountain trail, following a small dirt path that the Gamemakers placed here when they were making it. At least, that's what I hope it is, and not some crazy survivalist tribute setting up an intricate trap to kill us. But even if that does happen, I'm sure that Afya will be able to shoot them down with her bow.

Shaking away the slight paranoia, I focus on the mountain ahead, and begin to notice that it's becoming slightly harder to catch my breath. It's probably because we're so high up that the air is thinner. I continue to follow Afya up, and we keep going higher until we reach a flat section of the mountain.

Once I'm on the flat section, I lean against the side of the mountain, catching my breath. Afya seems to be tired too, but occupied by something else. For some reason, she keeps looking further up the mountain, a confused expression on her face. I can't see what she's looking at from here, but knowing Afya, it must be important.

"What are you looking at?" I ask her, walking out towards her.

"Look." She replies, and points further up the trail. A little higher up is a large wall of the mountain, filled with several cave like holes. Beyond that, the path becomes a straight drop to the bottom of the mountain. But what's really interesting is that a stream of smoke is coming from a few of the caves.

"What do you think that is?" I ask Afya. It is rather odd, the way that it's just there for seemingly no reason.

"I have no idea, Maia," Afya replies, picking up her bow, "But whatever it is, the Gamemakers want us to go through it. Keep your wits about you."

Afya begins to walk up the path, constantly glancing around as she continues to get higher. I follow her, and look below us, at the base of the mountain. We're pretty high up now; so much that the forest looks absolutely tiny. If I fell off now, there'd be no chance of me surviving the fall. Aware of this fact, I move over to the other side of the path, and end up practically hugging the wall. It would be rather horrifying if I did fall, so I feel justified in not walking as confidently as Afya.

We make it to the top of the path, and stop just in front of the first hole. It's much hotter up here than lower down, and I find myself trying to remove the slight layer of sweat on my forehead. I lean on the wall to the side of the hole, and catch my breath again. This is rather unusual; the smoke pouring out of several of the holes.

Just as I begin to ponder what's going on here, Afya cries out in horror, and rushes towards me, throwing me to the floor.

"Get down!" She yells, and I look up again to see a massive burst out from the hole at high pressure. The heat is unbearable, and the smoke is making me choke. I cover my face with my shirt, and remain like that until Afya pulls it down.

"What was that?" I ask her, finding it hard to breathe.

"I don't know, Maia," She replies, "But I have the feeling that we'll have to go through this."

"Only one problem with that," I say, "How many of them will release a blast of deadly smoke when we're in there?"

"That's a risk we'll have to take." Afya replies, and stands up. I do the same, and follow her as she walks past a few of the holes, until we stop roughly halfway down.

"Why have we stopped here?" I ask Afya as she looks over the hole, deep in thought. Then, her eyes widen, as if she's realised something.

"That's it!" She exclaims to nobody in particular.

"What's it?" I question in response. Since I can't seem to find anything outstandingly important about this particular hole.

"Look at the holes," She says, gesturing towards them, "Notice anything about the number of them?" I don't, but I look at them. There are twelve on the same level as we are, and twelve above

them. Twenty four in total.

"There are twenty four." I reply, and Afya nods her head.

"Yes, twenty four. You know what else there are, or should I say _were_, twenty four of?" It's now that it all falls into place.

"That's how many tributes there were." I reply, but I'm still not entirely sure how it correlates.

"Now, here's where the Gamemakers got ingenious," Afya begins, "Look at the first column of holes. They released smoke right now, didn't they?"

"Yeah," I say. It seems to be making sense, but making sense of what? I let Afya continue explaining, still unsure of this all.

"Well, if I'm right, the one on the far left represents District One. They both released smoke, a symbol of life and energy, and both tributes are still alive. Same goes with District Two." It's now that everything about this situation makes sense. But there is still one flaw with the theory.

"How exactly can you tell that they represent tributes?" I ask, since it might just be coincidence that the first two rows are smoking, and the tributes from 1 and 2 are still alive.

"I thought you'd ask that," Afya says confidently, "Now look at the third row, or District Three. The top one isn't smoking, but the bottom one is. And also take note how the boy from Three died, but his partner is still alive."

"Wait," I say, "So this means that we can use it to see who is still alive?

"Indeed." Afya replies, before walking over to the fourth column, "And notice how none of the District Four holes are smoking. This probably means that one of the two cannons was the boy from Four." I see now. With this new knowledge, I walk over to the sixth column. The top one isn't smoking, but the bottom one is, and I don't recall seeing any of the two from 6 in the sky so far.

"Hey, Afya," I begin, "So does this mean the other cannon was the boy from Six?"

"Correct." She replies, before looking them over, "Which only leaves ten holes still smoking."

"So there are only ten left in the arena?" I ask, before realising how obvious that is, given the smoking holes. "So who's still alive?"

"Oh, that'll be easy," Afya says, "Both from One, both from Two, the girl from Three, the girl from Six, the boy from Ten, the girl from Twelve, and us." I suddenly realise how few remain. Only four Careers, and four outliers, excluding us.

"That's not much," I say, "Afya, what do you think about those who remain?"

"Judging from the early hours," She replies, "I think that we'll probably be into the final eight by tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. These Games will end soon, Maia, I can feel it."

"How can you feel it?" I ask her. It is rather strange, since I can't feel things like that.

"It's in the air," She says, looking up, "You can just sense it. Right now, it's like the calm before a storm. Something big's going to go down, Maia, you can tell. But I don't know what it is." Something about her tone and choice of words suddenly make this all seem quite foreboding. It sends another chill down my spine; the second chill of the day, and it's not even noon.

"Afya," I say, looking at one of the empty holes; the one that represents the girl from 4, "Shouldn't we be going through this now?"

"You're right," She says, walking in front, "Come on."

The inside of the cave is hot and stuffy, and a mixture of steam and smoke is coming from the walls. I'm sweating from every part of my body right now, and Afya also seems to be affected by the heat as well.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be here?" I ask out loud, my voice carrying down the long tunnel that we're in. We've only been in here a couple of minutes, but already I want to get out.

"Positive," She says back, "Or why else would the Gamemakers set this up?"

"Oh, I don't know," I reply, agitated slightly, "Maybe to trap us?"

"They wouldn't do that," She says, "We've already had two deaths this morning; I'm sure that the Capitol wouldn't like it if all of the tributes died at once." She's right; they wouldn't do that. This thought calms me down, but this tunnel still doesn't feel safe.

Eventually, the tunnel opens up into a large cavern, and I'm relieved to find that it isn't as hot or stuffy in here. There's a warm red glow about the cave, and there are several rock formations on the ceiling of the cave.

"Wow..." Afya says, her voice bouncing throughout the large space. I can see another hole from the top leading down into this cave via a slope, which is obviously the boy from 4's hole.

"Wow indeed." I say, before looking around. It wouldn't end here, so there has to be another way to continue forward. But just as I begin to search, Afya runs forward, towards the far side of the room. I follow here, hoping that she's found the way forward.

I catch up to her, and notice the wall that she's run up to. There's another tunnel ahead of us, but this one seems more spacious. Me and Afya both exchange a nod of approval, and walk down the tunnel. This one is lighter than the other one, as if something is illuminating it. I have no idea what, though, since I see absolutely nothing that could possibly light up this tunnel. Just as I think this, I follow Afya as she walks out of the tunnel, into another large cave. Evidently, that tunnel was shorter than the first.

But this room is entirely different than the other one, and I look at the walls to search for the next tunnel. There is no tunnel. Instead, there's only a dark grey stone wall, and I begin to feel trapped, until Afya nudges me.

"Up there," She says, and points upwards. I see a ledge on the right hand side of the room, with daylight streaming through a hole in the wall; the exit.

"Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought." I say, and Afya nods. But as soon as I've said it, I instantly regret tempting fate.

Suddenly, a huge rumbling shakes throughout the entire cave, and it causes me to fall to the floor. I look up, and see Afya struggling to stand, before the sharp rock formations on the roof come falling down.

I leap up, and roll out of the way as they come crashing down, limiting where I can stand. I run to the far side of the room, and see Afya edging towards the exit. She looks over to me, and a look of horror is present on her face.

"Maia, over here!" She calls over the rumbling noise, and I barely hear her as I leap out of the way of another falling rock formation. They look like icicles made out of sharp rock. I look down as I run, and notice something else horrifying. The floor is cracking.

I let out a scream, and run to the wall as a section of the floor collapses, the chunks of rock falling downwards, as waves of heat and smoke rise up from the hole. I see Afya slowly walk towards it, and look down. When her face looks at me, her fear translates so strongly that it terrifies me.

"Lava..." She murmurs, before her eyes widen, "Maia, this entire place is above a lake of lava!" Lava. I remember learning about it in school. It's caused by heated rocks in the core of the planet, or something. Lava is usually found in mountains, but when it is found, they're called volcanoes. It's this brief memory of school that makes the horrific realisation dawn on me.

This mountain is actually a volcano.

I look back to Afya, and see her running towards the ledge. I waste absolutely no time in running after her, the rumbling increasing in intensity as more cracks appear in the floor. A section of the floor collapses, and I leap over it, screaming in horror as a small amount of lava spurts out of the hole, barely missing me. I land on the other side of the hole, and sprint at full speed towards Afya, who's now climbing the wall. I can hear her panting loudly, and I run up to the wall as well, my heart pounding in my chest.

Despite the fact the wall is only about eight feet high, it looks like another mountain given the stress and urgency of the situation. Luckily, it has a few natural footholds, and I throw myself at the wall, climbing up as more of the floor collapses into the lake of lava, casting an eerie orange glow on everything. Still looking down, I watch as more of the roof falls into the lava, barely missing my head.

Trying to ignore it, I climb upwards faster, the muscles in my arms and legs burning with the effort. But I can't stop now; not unless I want to fall into the lava, and burn to death horribly. Just as I reach the top, an incredibly loud cracking noise fills the room, and I watch as the entire floor falls into the lava, causing a massive splash of the deadly molten rock to hit the roof. It drips off slowly, back into the massive body below, missing me entirely.

I lift myself up, and climb to my feet. It's just a quick run to the exit, and I see Afya standing near the way out, looking anxious.

"Afya!" I yell, and upon seeing me, her face relaxes slightly, and I walk over to her, unaware of the cracks that now fill this new floor.

Afya's face turns into one of sheer horror, and suddenly, I find myself falling. In panic, I look down. The floor is collapsing, just like the other one. I then realise something else. Judging by the speed that I'm falling, there is no way that I will be able to reach the edge of this new hole, and grab it in time, which means that I will fall into the lava, and suffer the most agonising death in the entire Games.

Just as I close my eyes, and will my death to be quick, I feel something grab my wrist. I let out a startled scream, and stop falling, my legs dangling above the lava. I see a few small rocks fall into the boiling lake, disappearing in a splash of smoke.

Trembling, I look up, and see Afya leaning over the ledge, clenching my arm, her face straining to keep hold.

"Grab the ledge." She says between gritted teeth. I nod, as tears begin to flow down my face, and grab onto the edge. Sure that I have a secure grip, I begin to lift myself up, Afya helping to haul me onto the ledge. As soon as I'm safely on the rock floor that isn't cracked, I lay down, and begin to cry. It's a mixture of fear, despair, and now joy as I look at Afya. She saved me. She prevented me from dying.

"Thank you," I sob, as I shakily stand up, "You saved my life." My voice is strained, and I can't help but pull Afya in for a hug. As she returns the hug, I begin to sob into her shoulder.

"There, there," She says softly, "You're alright now. Come on, let's get out before more of the cave collapses."

She pulls away from me, and I follow her out of the cave, and welcome the midday sunlight. The air is cooler and fresher, and grass coats the mountainside. Calming myself down, I walk a little further away from the cave, out of the stream of smoke, and sit on the grass, my back facing the mountain. Afya follows me, and we sit together, exhausted and blackened from the smoke.

"Thanks again." I say, and Afya places a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't mention it," She replies with a smile, "After all, it's what friends do."

Friends. I let out a smile as I realise that our relationship has evolved from two allies that benefit from one another, to actual friends who care about one another. But as I take in this joyful realisation, something else hits me.

I now know that we have become too close than we should in this arena, and that means that neither of us will have the ability to actually harm one another. Which means only one thing; when we die, we die together. And right now, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather die with.


	22. Shattered

**April Holme, 14, District 12 Tribute**

I sit on a branch, eating one of the legs of the turkeys we were sponsored yesterday. Normally, by this point, most tributes would be starving to death. But no, right now, we're all eating a nice lunch, courtesy of one drunkard of District 12. At first, I pretty much hated Haymitch's guts, but after this sponsor gift, I have realised that he's either a genius, or just lucky with his gifts.

Tossing away the bare bone of the leg, I hop down from the tree, and land expertly on the forest floor below. I walk a little further forwards, and emerge in our little camp. Right now, both Hunter and Magnum are sitting around the camp, finishing off lunch. Hunter still has his home-made explosive in his hand, even though you'd have to be absolutely insane to ever call this hell hole home, and Magnum's holding her knife.

When Magnum first found out about our plans for assault, she was shaken rather badly at the prospect of killing; a complete contrast to mine and Hunter's views on the assault. Hey, I think the Careers have it coming; they murdered both Nikki and Tobias in cold blood. Sure, neither of them were really going to last as long as us, but still, they didn't have to die so horribly.

"Hey," I call out to my two allies, and they turn their heads, looking at me, "Now that lunch is over with, I have to ask you something, Hunter."

"Me?" Hunter asks, and stands up, still clenching that bottle. Then again, so would I; it is practically our ticket to making sure a Career doesn't come home this year.

"Yes." I reply, before looking at Magnum. Ever since we got into this arena, she's been awfully jumpy, "Sorry Magnum, but this concerns mainly Hunter." I say this softly, and calmly, to ensure she doesn't freak out. Instead, she smiles and nods, and walks off into the forest in the direction of the lake, humming to herself.

Sitting at one of the logs, I motion for Hunter to sit next to me.

"What do you want?" He asks, and my eyes wander to the bottle. "Oh, does this concern the attack?"

"Yes," I reply, looking back at him, "What I want to know is when. When are we going to get this little burning party started?"

"Oh, about that," He says confidently, "Well, I was thinking this evening. You know, so we can get close to them without getting caught, since it won't really work if we're all full of arrows and spears, will it?"

"You're right." I say. It is a pretty good idea, since, like he says, it'll be awfully hard to get them if they're throwing more weapons than we have teeth into our body, rendering us as dead, bloody pin cushions. And even if we do die, we have to make sure that we have caused some major damage with the cocktail, since if the Careers get hold of it, well, Claudius might as well announce the victor there and then.

"I think I am, April," He says, letting a cocky grin show.

"Don't get too confident." I cut in, and obviously realising what I was on about, Hunter drops his smile.

"Anyway, until then, how about we get a little more rest." He continues, "After all, we'll need to be at full strength if we want this to work." He lets out a yawn, before pointing in the direction of the lake. "Would you mind getting Magnum, as well? Since she seems to trust you just a little more than she does me."

"Alright then." I reply, and watch Hunter disappear into his tent, resting for the grand assault tonight.

Okay, so I have until sundown to prepare for this full scale attack on the Careers. Part of me is tingling with excitement, yet another part of me is trembling in fear. A number of things could go wrong. First off, the Careers might go hunting for us before we even go out. Then there's also the issue of dying before we can blow them up. And let's not forget accidentally killing ourselves.

I sigh, and ignore these worries. It'll probably go fine; I'm just a little nervous. But I have more pressing issues right now, such as bringing Magnum back. Suddenly, the image of a swarm of Mutts fills my mind, and I grab my bow out of comfort.

Casting away my fears, I walk into the trees, sheltering myself from the midday sun. Luckily, the Gamemakers have stopped putting the temperature up, but it's still pretty hot. I fan myself with my bow as I push through the trees, emerging at the clearing with the lake.

I see Magnum crouched at the shore, looking at her reflection. Cautiously, I make my way across the clearing, making no sound as I manoeuvre towards my ally. Finally, I'm close enough, and remain still.

"Hey, Magnum," I say, and she whips her head around, standing up. Something seems off about her; perhaps it's her posture. "Hunter says we have to get back to camp, to get some rest. You know, since we have to be at full strength for the-"

I'm cut off by the most remarkable thing I've ever seen. Magnum leaps at me like a feral animal, and pins me to the floor, holding her knife in a position close to my face. My eyes widen, and my heart begins to beat faster. What's going on?

"Oh, you mean your little plan to kill me?!" She spits at me, and begins to cry.

"Magnum, what are you talking about?" I ask, as I slowly begin to try and stand up.

"Don't act like you don't know!" She yells, "You and Hunter are planning to kill me with that burning beer! Not the Careers! No, me! Innocent me!" Okay, she has definitely lost it, and I find myself shaking.

"Magnum, we would never do that!" I yell back at her, and the sheer volume catches her off guard. I use this moment to push her off of me, and stand up, "Now, can we please calm down, and get back to camp."

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Magnum hisses, "You know, to get me to go to sleep, and burn my tent down!" Every word feels like a crushing blow as I realise that Magnum has gone off the deep end. "Don't think I don't know! You and Hunter are conspiring to kill us all!"

"Magnum, we're not-" I try to explain, but once again, I'm cut off.

"Of course you are! You lied to me! I thought I could trust you! I thought you were innocent, like me, but I was wrong. No, you are far more evil than the Careers. At least they aren't prepared to blow us all up!"

I wasn't aware of it, but I now find myself backing slowly into the tree line, my brain trying to find a way out of this situation. Hunter's asleep, and back at camp, and Magnum's gone insane. Brilliant.

"Magnum, we're not murderers!" I yell at her, trying desperately to bring her back to her senses. "We simply want to get revenge on the Careers for killing our district partners! Surely you feel the same?" My voice catches on the end of the sentence, and Magnum's eyes darken. I've heard of the expression, but I didn't know that people could actually do it.

"What's it matter?!" Magnum snaps, "In case you forgot, only one gets out April." She lifts her knife up, and takes a step towards me, "And I plan to be that one!"

What happens next completely catches me off guard. Magnum throws herself at me, but instead of tackling me to the ground, she slashes my arm with the knife. Blood pours from the gash, and I let out a cry of horror as she rushes at me again. She goes for my body this time, and I trip her up, before running into the forest, terrified, and panting heavily.

She has completely lost it, no doubt about it. I run behind a tree, and look behind me. Like a crazed wild animal, Magnum is stalking for me. She is the hunter. I am the prey. And there is really only one way to safely get out of here alive; I have to shoot Magnum. Nothing fatal, but enough to render her immobile.

"Sorry..." I whisper to myself as I load my bow, keeping a close eye on Magnum. I have to time this just right if I have any hope of saving myself. She walks into range of my bow, and I fire an arrow. It hits her in the leg, and she falls to the floor.

"Damn you, April!" She screams, but doesn't move. Thank goodness; I managed to down her, and keep her alive.

I walk out from behind the tree, but as soon as I do, Magnum leaps to her feet, and runs at me, digging her knife into my side. I scream in terror, and pull out my own knife, slashing blindly as she digs deeper. It's absolutely agonising, but I can't let her win over me. I have to get out of here, and get home. Imagine if my family has to watch me die at the hands of a crazed girl from District 3.

Driven by this determination, a sudden burst of adrenaline kicks in, and I punch Magnum in the nose. Blood coats my hand, and she pulls her now red knife out of my side, blood dripping onto the floor. I'm hurting in a few places, but not enough to stop me. As Magnum reels in pain, I swing my knife at her, slicing her leg. She screams, and begins to punch me, but I don't stop until a pool of blood forms. She suddenly kicks out, knocking my knife into the bushes, and sending a searing pain throughout my hand.

I leap back as she tries to stab me again, and turn and run, becoming aware of the tears that flow down my face. This is wrong; Magnum is my friend! I can't kill her, even if I had the physical strength to simply drive a knife into her throat. It's the moral dilemma here; do I kill my friend? Or do I give up my own life? The frustration causes me to let out a scream into the air, and I stare right at my crazed ally.

"Magnum, don't do this!" I call to her, desperately hoping that some part of her will bring her back to her senses, "We're friends!"

"Friends don't bring you home, April!" Magnum shrieks, and runs at me again, driving her knife into my calf. I jump back in horror, ensuring that the wound isn't too deep. As Magnum prepares to attack again, I shove my hand on her face, and begin to claw at her.

Small gashes are left all over Magnum's once pretty, innocent, happy go lucky face, leaving an ugly mess. Just like this situation; one big, ugly mess. I let out another sob, partly from the pain, and partly from the emotional trauma.

But Magnum isn't fazed by this, and takes a sudden leap at me, slicing her knife across my face. A long gash appears across my cheeks and nose, and my tears cause the wound to sting even more. I have to get out of her range.

Thinking quickly, I punch Magnum in the gut. The blow itself wasn't very hard hitting, but the surprise of it was. Magnum doubles over, and I run towards a tree, scaling it with incredible speed. I don't stop until I'm at the top, and I'm looking down at her. But I can't see her, and realise something; she must be climbing the tree.

I descend a few branches, and look as Magnum is hoisting herself up the trunk, the knife in her mouth. She looks a mess; all beaten and bloody. Then again, so do I. My face hurts, I have a deep wound in my side, my hand is throbbing, and my arm is bleeding. This is the most action I've seen during the Games at all, and I never imagined I'd be in this situation. It has to end, though. I look at my bow. It'd be one shot to the temple, quick and painless. She wouldn't even register it. But I would, and I begin to tremble at the thought of killing her.

I don't have long to make my decision, though, as Magnum's nearly caught up to me. I look at my bow once more, and grab it, loading it with an arrow. I take aim at Magnum, and close my eyes.

"I'm so sorry." I say, and release the arrow.

I open my eyes, and see as the arrow shoots into Magnum's mouth, open from screaming. The force of it then causes her to lose her grip on the tree, and she falls backwards, blood pouring from her mouth, her bright green eyes staring at me, having no semblance of anything human. Just a scared, crazed animal.

Magnum hits the floor with a sickening cracking sound, and I look to see the mess on the floor. She's in a crumpled heap, her limbs splayed in every direction, the arrow sticking out of her mouth, a pool of blood already surrounding her.

_**BOOM!**_

Her cannon fires, and Magnum Flowes is officially declared dead.

I jump out of the tree, and land on the floor, my body numb as I look at the lifeless corpse of my ally. I did this. Not a Mutt, not a Career, not suicide. I did it. Me. I killed a person. I ended a life, tragically cutting it short. What did Magnum do to deserve this? She was scared, just like us all. A good soul, spooked. Spooked into killing. I wasn't spooked, or controlled by fear; I made a conscious decision to kill her.

"I'm so sorry!" I scream as I collapse next to Magnum, looking over her bloody remains. I did all of this. And I was supposed to be her friend. "I am so, so, so sorry!" I can't do anything but shake and cry over the corpse, getting my face bloodier than it already is.

A shadow suddenly appears, and I don't need to look up to tell it's the hovercraft, to take her away for good. I lean over to her face, and close her eyes, taking the arrow from her mouth, causing one last fountain of blood to spurt out, before I walk away, letting the Capitol take the mangled remains away forever.

Shaking, I slowly walk towards the lake again, the pain in my body caused by the fight increasing, and I'm forced to sit down for a moment, as the pain takes over my body. I remain like this for a few minutes, until it dulls down for a moment, and I stand up again, staggering towards the camp.

When I reach the clearing, Hunter's there, looking extremely anxious. His face is pale, and his eyes are wide. He looks at my staggering form, and rushes over to me, a concerned expression written all over his face.

"April, what happened to you?! Where's Magnum?" The questions fly at me hard and fast as Hunter drags me to one of the logs, sitting me down. He pulls out a roll of bandages, and wraps my arm and side up, before pulling my hair up as he wraps the bandages around the gash on my face. Finally, I find the strength to speak.

"Hunter," My voice is shaky and uneven; not my own, "Magnum's dead."

"What happened?" His tone is anxious, "Was it a Mutt? Or a Career?"

"Neither!" I snap suddenly, tears spilling from my eyes once more, "I killed her, Hunter! Me!"

"What happened?!" He questions, his normally calm face full of apprehension.

"She snapped," I explain, ignoring the aching feeling in my chest, "She thought we were gonna kill her with the explosive, so she tried to kill me first. There was nothing I could do but shoot her." As the last word leaves my mouth, I break down, sobbing into Hunter's shoulder.

"It's okay, April," Hunter says in an effort to calm me down, "There was nothing you could have done but what you did." But it doesn't work, and I force myself to put a calm face on. After a few moments, I have stopped crying, and I pull my face out, looking right at him, an idea coming to mind.

"Hunter, you know what caused all this to happen with Magnum?" I ask him, and he gives me a quizzical look in response.

"I don't know. She never really told me." He replies, his voice uneasy.

"The fear of the Careers," I reply, determination burning inside me, "So this is what I propose: We go out there now, and blow the Careers sky high in a flaming explosion. In honour of Magnum."

"Yeah," Hunter says, a grin growing onto his face, "Yeah! Let's do this. For Magnum!"

"Yeah!" I reply, and we both leap to our feet, Hunter grabbing his rapier, and sliding it into his belt. I load my bow, and follow him as he runs forward, into the forest. Despite the humidity of the trees obscuring our view, I know where we're going. After all, what Career pack _doesn't_ set up camp there?

We're going to end this all at the Cornucopia.


	23. Power Corrupts

**Ebony Amaranth, 18, District 1 Tribute**

You know that feeling you get when you know it's gonna be a bad day? Well, yeah, I have that feeling all over. I mean, this day started absolutely wonderfully; Ryder died before the sun came up, and another tribute has just perished. And to make matters worse, Nick seems to have shut down. I mean, seriously. All he's doing is sitting down on the beach, holding his sword like it's his baby or something.

And to make it all that much worse, Nick is a comfort eater; he has devoured all of the nuts, and he's beginning to dig into the dried fruit. Forget the meat; that was gone before I woke up. I have tried to stop him from eating pretty much our freaking lifeline here, but Ariella simply cut in, saying that it would be an absolutely idiotic idea to disturb him. I really don't know what her problem is, but I guess it could be brought on by the stress of losing Ryder. They were pretty close.

Sighing in frustration, I stand up from the mouth of my tent, and stretch my arms and legs, before glancing over at Nick. You have got to be kidding me. He has managed to grab my food, and he's nearly done with all of it. This is the last straw. Nobody, and I mean nobody, does that to my food supply.

"Hey!" I yell at him, as I seethe with anger, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! That's my food; eat your own, fatty!" I'm sorry, but this is entirely the last straw. Who the hell does he think he is? Taking our food like some sort of gluttonous pig.

Suddenly, Nick stands up, tearing the bag of fruits and nuts open, the food spilling all over the sand, and walks up to me, towering over me in an attempt to be menacing. Hey, at least he's blocking the sun.

"What did you just call me?" He growls, his face looking like a kid who's just stood in a pile of dog mess.

"I called you a fatty." I reply coolly, trying to ignore Nick's foul breath as he breathes heavily. Don't they have toothpaste in District 2? Because if they do, _someone_ hasn't been using it. "Think about it, Nicky. Only a fat _pig_ would grab all of our food, and throw it down their throats in the space of an afternoon."

"Shut your mouth, pretty boy." He snaps back.

"Oh, resorting to petty name calling?" I ask mockingly, "Well of course. I keep forgetting that District Two is the last home of the Neanderthals." Nick opens his mouth to reply, but I cut him off, "Oh, look. Were you about to call me another idiotic name? What was it this time? Puny little baby man? Because that sounds exactly like something you'd-"

I'm cut off by an extreme feeling of pain in my stomach. I look down, and see Nick's fist preparing for another blow. It comes so hard and fast that I have no time to react, and I'm blown to the floor. Ouch. Oh, he did not just go there. I mean, gorging himself on our food was bad enough, but resorting to beating on me? That is where I draw the line, and trust me, it's a pretty noticeable line all right.

But just as I prepare to leap to my feet, and take Nick down, someone stops me, pinning me to the floor.

"Ebony, do you have a death wish or something?" It's Ariella. Oh great, I hope she didn't hear my slurs towards District 2.

"No," I reply, my tone highly agitated, "But he just ate all of our food. Do you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?"

"Yes." She replies, her voice catching. She's hiding something from me; I can tell.

"But why?" I demand, "I see no good reason why I can't go over there and knock some sense into him."

"Just trust me," She says, "You can't do that just yet."

"Why?" I ask again. This is really shifty behaviour from Ariella; completely out of character for her.

"If I told you," She says softly, her voice trembling. Okay, this is new, "It would tear this alliance apart. And we don't want that; we're not even into the final eight yet."

"Fine." I snap in response, and get up, wiping the sand from my shirt.

That was incredibly weird. I rub my eyes, deciding I need to talk to someone with some sense. Walking over to the mouth of the Cornucopia, I spot Emerald absently flinging her knives at the inner walls.

"Hey," I say to her as I walk inside, sitting down.

"Hey," She replies, not taking her eyes off her knives. We remain in silence for a few moments, until Emerald slips up, and the knife clatters to the floor. Letting out a curse in frustration, she gathers her knives, and sits next to me. "What happened out there?"  
"I think Nick is royally screwed in the head," I say, looking at Emerald's expression. It's pretty blank.

"Nothing new there." She replies, wiping a spot of dirt from one of her nails. I have to let out a slight laugh; only District 1 would be concerned about our appearances in an arena where we're all fighting to the death.  
"What do you mean?" I ask, fanning myself with my hand. The heat of this place just isn't fun. We've had to spend more time shielding ourselves from the sun than we have actually being Careers. At least the sun is showing signs of beginning to start setting soon.

"What I mean is, you should have seen the look in Nick's face during the interviews, when Caesar congratulated him on the score of ten."

"What was it?" I ask, listening to the soft sound of the waves sloshing up against the back of the Cornucopia. It's all very soothing. A complete contrast to the tension that is bubbling up.

"It was as if for a brief moment, his eyes were full of sheer rage, nothing else. No spark of life and intelligence, just a mindless killing machine."

"So you're thinking Nick's been a nut case from the start?" I ask her. She nods in response. "Sounds about right."

We sit in silence once more for a few moments, taking in each other's company. Emerald almost seems to be in a state of meditation, but I'm not. No, my thoughts are of Nick, and how spectacularly he's going off the deep end. And you know what's ticking me off the most? How there's nothing I can do about it. Just that feeling of failure is enough to drive me insane. But it won't since I'm not a lunatic like Nick.

The horrible growling feeling of hunger strikes me, and I stand up, trying to ignore it. I'll probably get some water to quell the feeling; I don't think Nick's devoured our drinks just yet.

"I'm gonna go." I say to Emerald, and she nods slightly in response, obviously deep in thought about something. Turning away from her, I step outside, and blink a few times as I adjust to the brightness of the outdoors once more. The clear blue sky allows for the sun to beat down harshly and as I look upwards, I realise something. There have been three deaths today, and none of them caused by us. Not that the tributes dying is a bad thing, it's just that there has been a lot of dying compared to the past two days.

Not dwelling upon the thought, I walk down the beach, and towards my tent. However, when I reach it, the front of it is wide open. Oh, please, don't be. Just as I walk towards it, Nick steps out, chugging my canteen of water. He completely ignores me, and walks towards the shore. As soon as he's gone, I realise that he might not have drunk both canteens.

With this in mind, I burst into the tent, and find my canteen laying next to my spear. Thank god he didn't drink it. I bend over, and pick it up. I unscrew the cap, and tilt it towards my mouth, ready to fend off the thirst. But nothing comes. Oh, no.

I tap the bottom of the canteen, and after an absurd amount of tapping, one drop falls out onto my tongue. It's completely empty. Nick drank it. This is it; I don't care what Ariella says, he must be stopped.

Grabbing my spear, I rush out of my tent, and walk along the beach, rage filling every inch of my being. Slowly, I make my way to Nick, and watch as he finishes off the canteen, letting it fall to the ground, empty.

"Hey, Nick," I say, twirling my spear in my hand slowly, "What's up?"

"Nothing." He replies gruffly, as if I don't exist at all. Or at the very least, I don't deserve to exist. I swear, he is seriously infuriating me right now.

"Really," I retort, "You've suddenly doomed us to starvation for nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Shut it, One." The words shoot out of his mouth as he pulls out his sword. Seems _someone's_ definitely gone insane. I mean, who else would consume everything we have, and then get hostile about it? "Or do I have to shut your mouth for you?" Not cool.

"Like you'd have the balls to attack me."

As soon as I say the words, I regret it immediately. Nick suddenly lets out a primal cry of rage, and rushes at me, swinging his sword like a mad man. I try to leap out of the way, but I'm not fast enough, and the silver blade ends up grazing my side. It's not deep, but damn, does it hurt.

"Oh, look," I taunt jokingly as we square one another off, my hands twitching as I hold my spear, "Is someone throwing a hissy fit?" Nick unleashes another scream of fury, and runs at me, punching my nose. The sheer agony temporarily blinds me, and I can feel the warm blood streaming down my face. He's definitely broken my nose. But my blindness leaves me open, and Nick swings his sword at my shoulder, causing me to fall to the floor in agony. This wound is definitely deeper than the one on my side, and I can feel the blood pulsing out of me.

My vision returns, and I manage to roll out of the way as Nick tries to kick me. I get sand in the wound on my shoulder, and I let out a stifled cry of pain. Great. There's a chance that that'll get infected. Returning my attention to the fight, I ignore the throbbing pain in my nose, and ready my spear. Nick comes at me hard and fast, and I leap out of the way, before thrusting the spear into his thigh. He screams out a stream of profanities, and swings at my own leg, catching my shin, before falling to the floor.

"God damn it!" I yell, "That hurts, Nick!" But he says nothing, and looks up at me.

And then, I see it. What Emerald mentioned about the interviews. His eyes have darkened, and they have lost what makes them represent him. Instead, it's only a mindless monster. I dodge another swing, and move back as he staggers to his feet. Well, I'll say he earned his 10 in training, that's for sure. But I also managed to get a 10, and I might as well show him why I deserved it.

Gripping my spear tight, I run at Nick, and thrust it. It catches his abdomen, and I keep drilling in. Nick lets out a cry of pain, and grabs my wrist. He squeezes tight, and I can feel my bones on the verge of being crushed. This isn't good. But I don't give in, and swing my leg up, delivering a powerful kick to his arm, causing him to let go of me. I then pull the spear out of him, and blood gushes from the wound, staining the sand red once more.

"You're good," I say, panting. Strangely enough, my rage has subsided, and in its place, the thrill of the fight. Adrenaline is pounding throughout me, and an odd grin is present on my face. This is way too fun.

As I think this, Nick rushes at me once more, and brings his sword down. I don't leap out of the way fast enough, and it catches my chest. I scream in agony as Nick keeps slicing down, causing a long vertical gash that goes from the middle of my chest, down to my waist. I double over in pain, and hit the floor as Nick swipes at my neck. Instead, he trips over me, and falls to the floor in a pile of expletives and blood.

I stagger back upwards, and notice that Ariella and Emerald are now watching me. Emerald's face is plastered with horror, but Ariella's is different. It's almost as if she's coming to some realisation. But either way, neither of them are coming to my aid, and I return my attention to Nick.

He's climbing back onto his feet, swaying from the blood loss. But I can't leave him here; he's probably faking this to make me let my guard down. And I was right. He runs towards me, leaving bloody footsteps in the sand, and tackles me to the ground, his weight crushing me.

I begin to feel light headed now, and Nick's face is inches from my own. The force of the fall knocked my spear out of my hand, and it now lays just out of my reach. Just freaking perfect. I look up again, and gag as the scent of Nick's blood, combined with his foul breath, reaches my nose. It's a wonder I can still smell things, but at least it means I'm not as busted up as I thought.

But that all changes in an instant as Nick lifts his sword up, and strikes it down on my chest. Luckily, my ribcage prevents it from piercing any major organs, but it still causes a lot of blood to pour out. It's making me feel weak, and the pain is agonising. If I don't end this soon, Nick will kill me. And to be honest, I would rather not die at the hands of such a completely messed up psychotic monster.

Gritting my teeth, I move my hands underneath Nick's chest, and using all of my strength, manage to push him off of me. He rolls over, and falls onto the sand, and I climb to my feet, and stagger over to my spear. I pick it up, and face Nick as he stands up, holding his sword, and I can tell the look in his eyes. This is it.

With a cry of rage, he rushes at me, and I charge forwards as well, aiming my spear at him. Nick's faster, but my spear is longer, and I ram it into his chest with full strength. A sickening crack sounds out, and I know I've broken his ribcage. I keep going, and blood begins to dribble from his mouth. He begins to convulse, before going still. But it barely lasts a moment, and Nick's soon charging at me once more. I pull the spear out, and move backwards as fast as possible, my eyes trained on him. We keep going like this until I'm pressed up against the Cornucopia, and Nick is standing over me. He goes in for another swing, and I move out of the way, his weapon getting stuck in the soft metal of the horn.

I rush around to behind Nick, and thrust my spear. It goes into his back, and he begins to convulse even more, a fountain of blood rushing from his mouth, staining the Cornucopia. He begins to flail, but I don't stop. I drive my spear further in at an angle, my weapon moving upwards. A choking sound comes from Nick, and I feel my spear come loose, as if bursting through something.

_**BOOM!**_

Nick's cannon fires, and the monstrous figure goes limp, collapsing in a heap. He's so heavy that my spear falls with him. As he falls over, I see the full extent of the damage. There is a trail of blood leading up the height of the golden horn, and blood is pooling rapidly around Nick's body. But the most horrifying part has to be the spear. It entered Nick's lower back, but it came out of his chest. It probably pierced his heart.

Shaking, I slowly pull the spear out from his body. A disgusting squelching sound reaches my ears, as even more blood squirts out. Eventually, I pull it free, and Nick's body collapses on the floor. But there is still one thing I need to get.

I bend down, and grab Nick's sword, prying it from his dead hand. It comes free, and I back away from the body. It's coated in blood, and is barely recognisable as a human being. It looks more like a beaten up pile of meat than anything else. I look to the sky, and notice the hovercraft emerge.

Backing away slowly as Nick's corpse is lifted into the sky, I become aware of my own injuries. I'm hurting all over, and bleeding quite a bit. But I don't feel particularly faint, so I suppose it's a good thing; I'm not dying.

The hovercraft vanishes, taking Nick with it, and I stagger over to the mouth of the Cornucopia. I sit down, and catch my breath, and look as Emerald runs over to me.

"Ebony! Are you okay?" She asks, and I nod in confirmation.

"I'm fine." I reply, groaning in pain, "Just a little beaten up, is all."

"You should probably rest." Emerald says, looking somewhat revolted at the sheer level of blood that now coats our camp. But at least it was Nick that died, and not me.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine by tomorrow." I say, flashing her a grin. Yeah, I'll probably need a little rest, then I'll be fine tomorrow.

"Hey, guys!" I hear Ariella shouting, and Emerald turns her head to listen, "Get out here, now!" Her voice sounds urgent, and I struggle to my feet. Emerald helps me up, and I limp outside. We walk together to Ariella, and notice her staring into the trees. I look closer, and my jaw drops at the sight.

Standing right at the edge of the tree line, armed to the teeth with a bow and rapier, and carrying a lighter and a bottle covered by a piece of fabric, are two tributes that I never thought I'd see like this.

It's the girl from District 12, and the boy from District 10.


	24. Up in Smoke

**Hunter Ruiz, 17, District 10 Tribute**

Remaining crouched, both me and the girl from 2 engage in a stare-down. She has dark skin, and flowing dark hair that reaches below her waist. She's rather pretty, and almost innocent looking, if it weren't for her grey eyes. They're similar to April's, only these eyes hold something far more sinister than April's eyes.

Of course, I should have realised that by charging out during the daytime would end in us being caught. But we managed to get here without seeing anyone else. In fact, I was about to burn the whole place down, when the fight between the boys from 1 and 2 took place. And then, the girl from 2 noticed April's gasps in surprise. Not that I'm blaming April or anything, it's just that this girl is obviously highly observant; she would have probably found us regardless.

I grit my teeth, and once again look over the situation. There are two of us, and three of them. But one of them's injured, so we're roughly equal in terms of numbers. Judging from appearances, the girl from 2 seems to be the most dangerous Career left alive. But looks can be deceiving.

"April-" I begin, but I'm cut off by the sudden appearance of a golden arrow striking into a tree. I whip my head around, and see that the girl from 2 has inched closer to me.

"Something I can help you with?" She asks, her tone completely flat, and almost bored. Well, yeah; she sees two outliers with mediocre weapons at best. I just prey she doesn't know about our explosive, otherwise we're doomed to die here and now. "Pretty good weapons," She says, looking at me and April, "The rapier is small, but equally as deadly as any sword in the right hands, and, don't call me biased, but the bow may be the best weapon in the Games. Light, ranged, and one hundred percent deadly."

"I can see that." I spit back at her, trying to think of a way out of this situation. Since right now, if I make any sudden moves, it's game over, and they'll kill us right away.

A slight rustling sound catches my attention, and I glance back at April. She lightly taps a finger on her bow, and this form of communication is enough to know what she wants; me to keep the attention away from her as she loads the bow. It'll be a pretty risky move, but it could pay off.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I snap my head around, and face the girl from 2 again. Her eyes seem more dangerous this time, and I know I'll have to play it just right.

"Oh, just making sure that my ally is still there." I say to her calmly, as if we're simply having a regular everyday conversation. After all, if I let my fear show here, they'll perceive me as weak, and begin to open fire. But if I appear to be a somewhat formidable opponent, it keeps them on their toes, and their attention on me, most importantly. "You know, to make sure she hasn't fled, or that one of you has killed her. The usual reasons."

"Stop playing funny." She snaps, her tone severe, "I've had enough of false joking over the past few days." Perfect. She's playing right into my hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I reply, in the most condescending tone I can muster, "I didn't know. But you should realise a laugh a day keeps you healthy, happy, and sane. It's a thing the local apothecary told us when we were suffering from psychological traumas, and we couldn't afford medicine." Of course, anyone from a poorer district would know that's a blatant lie, but perhaps the richer districts might find it plausible.

"Really?" She says, trying to sound flat, but it can't mask her intrigue. Bingo.

I glance briefly at the other two Careers, from District 1. The girl's too busy dealing with her injured district partner to pay any attention, and likewise with the boy.

"Yes, really," I reply to the girl from 2, "It works all the time with people. Victors of the Games, especially, love to do it." I let a slight cocky grin show, but the girl isn't interested. She now seems to be thinking about something, trapped in an inner turmoil. Maybe she's actually thinking about it. I look back at April; she's managed to get her bow in a decent grip, and she's now trying to get an arrow. Just a little longer.

Looking back at the girl from 2, I notice that her face has gone pale, and her eyes have widened.

"So, you mean to say that victors go crazy?" She asks me, her voice panicked. I have to stifle a laugh as I realise she's actually buying into it.

"Pretty much," I reply, "And especially if you've killed someone. Anyone else remember Hilda from District Ten? The victor of the 60th Games?"

"Yeah," She replies, her eyes darting around. I glance at April again; she's now slotted the arrow into her bow. I just have to keep the girl from 2 occupied a little more.

"Well, she went full blown crazy." I tell her, "Especially after she slaughtered all of the Careers in one go like a maniac." The girl from 2 is now almost hyperventilating.

"So, you mean to tell me," She begins, but her tone has changed, "That you thought I would buy that spiel? Honestly, you must think I'm an idiot if you honestly thought that your story was believable." One last glance at April. She's loaded, and ready. Perfect.

"Actually, I can't believe you were foolish enough to listen." I tell her, a dark grin on my face. This confuses her, since a minute ago, I was acting as if I was trying to fast talk my way out of the situation.

"What do you mean?" She says, but her voice trails off as she looks back at me and April, "Oh, you crafty little-"

"Now!" I yell, and April releases the arrow. It sails through the air, and strikes the girl from 2's leg. As she staggers in pain, I give April the signal, and we burst out of the trees.

The pair from 1 have seen this, and are struggling to run away, back to their camp. They seem injured, so I should be able to do this. But just as I begin to move towards them, a golden arrow flies by, grazing my leg. I fall forwards slightly, and turn to face the girl from 2 as she loads another arrow. As I thought, she is the most dangerous.

"April, hold her!" I call out, continuing to make my way to the small camp at the Cornucopia.

"Got it!" She calls back, and begins to unleash a barrage of arrows at the girl from 2. They're both evenly matched in terms of bow skills, but April has the upper hand with more arrows to fire; she's sparing her shots. As they both reload, April turns to face me, an expression of determination on her face. "Go! I can hold her off!"

Listening to April's words, I give her a nod of confirmation, and take off down the beach, towards District 1. The girl sees this, and sits the boy down in the mouth of the horn. He's pretty injured, so I'll be able to leave him without having to worry about him trying to kill me.

The girl, however, is another problem entirely. She has a ring of throwing knives attached to her belt, and she's holding a spear. And from the one look she gives me, I know that she will fight to the death. But I have something else that'll definitely stop all of this. Holding the bottle close, I look over at the tents. If I burn them down, they'll have nothing to rely on, and will perish without supplies. That much I can do.

Leaping out of the way of a throwing knife, I begin to make my way to the largest tent. But the girl spots me, and runs at me, slashing my stomach with her spear. Pain flares up throughout my body, and I draw my rapier, setting the bottle in my belt.

"So, you want to fight me?" She says, panting, her eyes brimming with fury, "Then come at me!" I don't need a second invitation, and strike with my rapier. It catches her in the shoulder, and she lets out a cry of fury and rage. But she doesn't remain still for long, and throws a knife at my face. It catches my scalp, and another sharp pain courses through my body, and a small stream of blood trickles down my face.

"You're pretty good," I say, dodging another knife, "But you're alone."

"So are you!" She snaps back, and delivers a swift kick to my knee, knocking me to the floor. She rams her spear into my back, and I cry out in pain as she begins to dig in. But before it can cause serious injury, I roll over, catching her off guard. I leap to my feet, and use my rapier to block a blow from her spear.

"As I was saying," I continue, gradually bringing the fight closer to the tent, "And you rely on the strength of your group to be a formidable force. Alone, you're just as strong as I am."

"Shut it!" She screams, before spitting at my face. It's disgusting, and I wipe it off, foolishly letting my guard down. The sharp feeling of pain appears on my chest, and I look to see two knives stuck there. Thankfully, the angle meant that they didn't puncture anything. I pull them out, and throw them back at her. She dodges them swiftly, and thrusts her spear once more. I jump to my left, missing the blow, and inching closer to the tents. Not long now.

Suddenly, I feel pain in my back, and turn around to see the girl from 2 standing on a hill close to the beach, firing arrows down. This gives me a bad feeling about April. What happened to her? As I ponder this, I sense something, and duck to the floor as a knife sails past my head, striking into the hill. I can't keep an eye on both of them at the same time, and if I focus on one, the other will kill me. This will be significantly harder to get out of.

"Hunter, look out below!" A voice suddenly rings out, and both me and the girl from 1 turn our attention to the top of the hill. April's emerged from the top, and is tackling the girl from 2. She fights back, but April pushes the two of them down the hill. They roll down in a pile of bodies, and bows, and end up crashing into the girl from 1, sending all of them into a massive heap.

I can't mask my joy. April did it. She managed to take out both dangerous Careers! And to add to the joy, she is first to emerge from the pile. She's a little more bloody, but no worse in condition.

"April," I begin to her, pulling her in for a hug, "You did it!" This is brilliant. I can now destroy everything in peace.

"Yeah." She replies, looking back at the two girls. Neither are moving. "But I'd do it quickly. Who knows how long we have before they get up?"

"You're right." I reply, and we both run over to the tents, stopping before the largest one. It's a bright green colour, and appears easily flammable.

"You ready?" She asks me, and I nod in response.

"Why wouldn't I?" I reply, and I can't help but smile as I pull out the lighter. I also pull out the bottle, and begin to try to light up the lighter. It takes a few tries, but I soon have a nice flame going. As soon as I set the cloth on fire, I prepare to throw it. But just as I'm about to release, a knife catches my side, and I turn to face the girl from 1 as she runs towards me. Out of reflex, my hand twitches, and the bottle flies out of my grip. It soars through the air, until it lands on the girl from 1. What happens next is absolutely horrifying.

She drops her spear to the floor, and screams in horror as the flames lick up her entire body, making her into a living human candle. Her screams are blood curling, and already smoke is coming from her blackening skin. But instead of dropping dead straight away as I thought she would, she makes a break for the ocean, her entire body black.

The smell of her burning flesh reaches my nose, and I gag in disgust as she runs past us. April is staring in horror, trembling at the burning mess that I created.

"Oh, god! Emerald!" I look over to the mouth of the Cornucopia, and see the boy from 1 standing up, his battered, bloody face riddled with concern and horror. I return my attention to the burning girl, and see as she trips, and falls into one of the tents.

_**BOOM!**_

April pushes me back as a massive column of flame erupts from the first tent. I hear the cannon, and I know that it quite clearly means the girl from 1 is dead. The flames continue to spread, and soon, the calm camp has turned into a deadly inferno, and thick waves of smoke are billowing out into the sky. It must be visible from all over the island. I wonder how many tributes have seen this? Another thought comes to me. What if the other tributes are drawn here? No, they're too smart to do that.

"Well, I think we should leave now." April says, keeping an eye on the burning camp. The smoke is so thick that the normally shining Cornucopia has all but vanished from sight. April's right. There is nothing to stay for, so we should be going.

"Come on," I say, "Before the crazy girl with the bow wakes up."

"You're right." April replies, and we begin to walk back up the beach, away from the heat and the deadly smoke.

We make our way up to the hill, and climb to the top. From there, we can clearly see the full extent of the damage. Most of the beach has vanished under the cloud of smoke, which is slowly rising into the air. The Cornucopia is barely visible, and what is visible, is a pitch black colour, the golden shine non existent.

"Whoa." I say, looking over it. "I can't believe we did that."

"Well, at least it pretty much secures that a Career won't win." April says in response, staring at the devastation.

"You're right." I say, and we remain standing in silence, overwhelmed at the destructive forces that we brought to the Careers.

Suddenly, a shape flies out of the smoke. It's slightly blackened, but I instantly recognise it as a spear. I open my mouth to warn April of it, but it's too late, and the spear flies into her stomach. Her eyes widen, and she tries to let out a scream, before the force of the blow knocks her flying down the other side of the hill.

"April!" I cry out, and right before I run to her, I see the boy from 1 standing at the bottom of the hill, a triumphant smile on his face. But I don't have time for that, and I run down the hill, almost falling several times.

When I reach the bottom, I find April curled up at the bottom, a thin trail of blood coming from her mouth. I run over to her, and pick her up, the spear still lodged in her stomach.

"Hunter...?" She asks, her voice weak, and she coughs up some more blood, "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me." I say, my voice trembling as I run towards the trees, "Now listen to me: I'm gonna get you back to camp, and then patch you up. But until then, hang in there, you hear me?"

"Alright," She replies faintly, and I pick up my pace, my breathing getting faster. No, I can't start having a panic attack. Not here, not now. Not when April needs me the most.

I continue to crash blindly through the trees as I rush towards the clearing, continually checking on April. Her eyes are glazed over slightly, but she's still alive and awake. Our surroundings begin to become more familiar, and I look at April.

"We're nearly back at the camp." I tell her, looking forward in time to dodge a branch, "Then you can rest, and get better."

"That's great." She says, her voice barely a whisper, and I notice her normally olive skin is beginning to turn pale. As this happens, I realise we don't have much time.

Running as fast as possible, I burst through the trees, and stumble into the clearing. It all looks the same as it did this morning, back when it was all calm. Back when Magnum was alive, and back when April didn't have a fatal injury.

Carefully, I set her down inside one of the tents, and run to the bag full of supplies. I rummage around inside it, desperately looking for a roll of bandages. But as I dig deeper, I remember that the last of it was used up this morning. As this realisation comes to me, the bitter sting of tears becomes noticeable, and I begin to cry. I can't save her. April is going to die. And there is no way I can heal her without bandages.

"Damn it all!" I cry out loud as I make my way back to the tent. If I can't save her, the least I can do is make her last moments as comforting as possible. I push open the front of the tent, and sit down inside, next to April.

"Did you get the bandages?" She asks, but I have to strain to hear her.

"No," I tell her, "We're all out." I don't tell her that she's going to die though. I can barely deal with the fact.

"Oh," Is all she says. Her voice sounds so deflated, so disappointed. And it delivers a crushing blow to my heart. I've failed her. Tears begin to pour from my eyes as I hold her hand. It's cold.

"I'm so sorry." I tell her, and hold her tight, "I'm sorry!"

"Hunter," She says weakly, her eyes weakly meeting my own, "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

I can't answer that question, because as she says it, I break down. I sob harshly, and continue to clutch her hand tight. She is going to die, and even she knows it. I want to tell her no, that she'll be fine after some rest, but that would be more for my benefit than for her benefit.

"Yes," I finally say, my voice coming out faint, before a choked sobbing sound bursts from my throat, "You are going to die."

There's no response from April, save for a weak crying sound. I look at April's face, and see the tears coming down her cheeks. She looks so weak and innocent, like a young child. She's too young for death, yet it's still coming to claim her. I hold her in my arms again, like a little child, and stroke her hair, in a pathetic attempt to make this a little more bearable.

"Hunter," She finally says weakly, "Can you do me a favour?"

"Anything," I tell her, my voice catching, "Anything, April."

"Please," She says, in an almost begging tone, "Please, win." Win? How can I do that? Especially alone? I look to April, and give her a confused look, but it quickly changes to a desperate sob.

She's gone limp, and her breathing is faint, her eyes shut.

"No," I say, "April, stay with me. April, you hear me? Don't leave me. Please, don't go! April!" I'm practically shaking her now, but I'm not getting any response, "April?"

_**BOOM!**_

A cannon fires out, and April stops breathing. No, she can't be dead. She can't be!

"April, please, wake up." I say. My voice is weak and faint, like a little child that doesn't know what he's doing. But some part of my body tells me to get her outside, so the hovercraft can collect her.

Sobbing, I lift her up, and carry her out of the tent. I set her down outside, and lay her peacefully on the ground. I give her one last kiss on the forehead, before stepping back. As I look at her, something comes to mind. Her bow is still in the tent, and she wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands, even in death. And as I have no use for it, it might as well be taken away with her.

Hurrying over to the tent, I pick up the bow, and return to April, placing it in her dead hand. If it weren't for the spear that's embedded deep into her body, she might be unconscious. Not asleep, no, she's not that peaceful, but not dead.

The area grows dark, and I look up to see the hovercraft. I walk away from April's corpse, and look back as it's lifted up, along with the bow and spear, and vanishes into the hovercraft. The hovercraft flies upwards for a little bit, then completely disappears, and I'm left with a crushing emptiness.

All my allies are dead. I am alone. Part of me want to break down sobbing, but another part of me wants to avenge them. Yeah, I'll do that. I can't avenge Magnum, since April killed her, and even if she was alive, I couldn't kill her. But I can avenge April. I grit my teeth as I bring out my rapier, and I let a wave of determination mix with my emotion. I will try to win for April, but first, there is one thing I have to do if I can't win. And either way, I won't die until this happens.

I will kill Ebony Amaranth.


	25. Mounting Tension

**Ariella Grayson, 17, District 2 Tribute**

"Hey, Ariella."

The voice is slightly fuzzy in my head as my vision comes into view. Everything is still blurry, and I have no idea what's going on. The last thing I can remember is shooting the boy from District 10, and the girl from District 12 throwing herself at me. And then, nothing. It's awful, having a gap in your memory. Is this what my father experienced when in a drunken stupor? No, I can't think about him right now. It is kind of odd where your mind drifts to when your other senses are dulled down.

Blinking heavily for a few seconds, the world comes into clear view. The blue sky is directly above me, meaning that I'm laying on my back. But where? I rub my hand along the ground, and feel soft grains of sand. The beach. So that answers that question.

But something feels wrong. I'm not sure what, but I have to find out. Ignoring the dizziness, I sit up, and look forwards. I have to wipe my eyes a few times to make sure what I'm seeing isn't a hallucination. The entire camp is a burning, raging fire, with smoke pouring from the smouldering remains of the tents. What happened here?

Suddenly, a figure comes into view, and I instantly recognise it as Ebony. He's holding his spear, and he looks more beaten up than ever. And if I'm correct, he almost seems to be remorseful.

"Ebony," I say, shakily standing up, ignoring my headache, "What happened here?"

"Oh, about that," He trails off, looking at the burning ruins of our camp, "Well, the boy from Ten managed to burn the place down by turning Emerald into a living candle."

"Is she okay?" I instinctively ask, hoping for a positive answer.

"What do you think," He replies, "She burst into flames, and fell into a tent, being coated in more fire for about three whole minutes. She died, Ariella."

"Oh," I say, my voice empty and hollow, "What about the other two? The boy from Ten and the girl from Twelve?"

"I managed to get the girl," Ebony explains to me, and I detect a slight amount of confidence in his tone, "She died a little while ago. And Ariella, I don't know whether or not this has occurred to you yet, but we're the only two Careers left."

No, that thought hadn't occurred to me yet. Me and Ebony, the last remaining Careers. Part of me wants to celebrate this fact, yet another part of me wants to be shocked at how quickly the numbers are depleting. This morning, it was me, Nick, Ebony, and Emerald. And they aren't the only deaths today. There's also been the boy from District 6, Ryder, the girl from District 3, and the girl from District 12, if what Ebony says is correct.

"Wow." I say in response to that, "The numbers sure are dwindling at a rapid pace. How many are left now?"

"Excluding us, four." Ebony replies, and a feeling of hope builds up inside me. Only four tributes besides us, and Ebony is so injured that I could pretty much kill him instantly. "The girl from District Five, the girl from District Six, the boy from District Ten, and the girl from District Eleven." And they're all pretty weak outliers as well. Except maybe the boy from 10, but I fail to see exactly how he'll survive an endless barrage of arrows.

Speaking of arrows, where is my bow? I glance around the immediate area, not seeing it. Could it have been taken in the fire? Surely not, otherwise I'll be pretty much without any way to defend myself.

"Ebony, have you seen my bow?" I ask him calmly, trying to not let my anxiety show. That bow is my lifeline. Without it, I'm pretty much dead.

"Yeah," He replies nonchalantly, pointing at the hill, "It's over there. I saved it from the fire for you. You lost one of your quivers though." That's a shame, but at least I still have my bow. I quickly walk over to the hill, and pick it up, enjoying the feeling of it in my hands. I was telling the truth when I told the boy from 10 that the bow is the best weapon to have. It's so light, meaning you can carry it without growing tired; it's ranged, which means that you can kill from a distance, and it's one hundred percent deadly. Which is why I find it odd that more tributes don't use the bow; the majority of victors were skilled in either the bow or the crossbow, and I'll be no exception.

Returning my attention back to now, I look over at the camp once more. It's completely destroyed, along with every last supply, except for my bow, and Nick's sword, which is currently in Ebony's hands. We're armed, and that's it.

"So," I begin, and Ebony turns to face me, "What do we do now? Since there really is no reason to stay here."

"Well, we could go tribute hunting." Ebony replies, a sly grin appearing on his face. That is a pretty good idea, and the others can't be too far. "We know that the boy from District Ten is still in the forest, and if I remember correctly, the girls from Five and Eleven are up the mountain. I have no idea about the girl from Six though."

"At least it gives us a pretty good lead," I say, looking at the large mountain that looms over the island, "And there's a pretty good chance that the girl from Six is also up the mountain somewhere. We could also probably lead the boy from Ten up there, and end it all on the mountain."

Ebony takes in this information silently, pondering the idea. Then finally, his eyes light up, and an excited smile appears on his face.

"That sounds perfect. We'll round up all our enemies in one place, then make quick work of them. And then, we'll battle it out to see who rightfully deserves the crown. Sound about right?"

"Excellent." I reply, before looking up at the sky. The sun is beginning to set. "Come on, before it gets dark, and we lose all chances of this happening." I load my bow, and Ebony lifts the sword up. We're ready.

"One question, though." Ebony begins, an embarrassed grin evident on his face, "How exactly do we get up to the mountain?"

"That's easy," I tell him, "There's a path that cuts through the forest up there. After that, it's a simple climb."

"Okay then." He replies, and we begin to walk towards the tree line, leaving the Cornucopia for good.

Something about the forest seems somewhat different this time around as we cut through branches and leaves in search for the path. I don't know what, but it's almost as if every fibre of this massive body of trees and foliage has some sort of sense of finality about it. Which is kind of fitting, since me and Ebony are planning to end it all by tonight. But still, it sends a shiver down my spine.

"How much longer?" Ebony asks as we continue through the seemingly endless greenery, which doesn't seem to be letting up.

"Not long now." I reply, although I'm not too sure myself about this. I remember when we went tribute hunting after Ryder picked up that the path was about ten minutes from camp. Looking back at Ebony's injured state, this might take longer. At least he's not bleeding any more. Thankful for that fact, I continue to press forwards, Ebony trailing behind me.

Suddenly, a bird calls out, and we both freeze, looking around. After a couple of seconds, Ebony begins to laugh.

"Look at us; we're so jumpy right now. How unfitting for a Career!" It is somewhat funny, and I find a slight giggle coming from me.

"Yeah," I reply, looking forwards at the trees. I then look down, and notice the grassy floor is beginning to turn dusty, like the dried dirt of the path. Not long now, "But come on; we're close."

"Awesome." Ebony says to me, and I nod in response, breaking through the tree line.

After barely avoiding a falling branch, we both end up on the other side. I look down at the floor, then at Ebony. We're at the path. Looking straight ahead, I notice the brighter daylight at the end of the path. It's quite far off, but closer than it looks.

"We're here." I say, looking in awe at the path. At the end of the path, I notice the rock terrain of the mountain. I look at Ebony, and notice a massive smile on his face.

"Come on!" He calls out, moving quickly down the path, "Let's begin the endgame!"

Smiling triumphantly to myself, I follow Ebony down the path, looking around at the trees that surround us. They almost seem to be bending in on us, looming over us like silent observers. To be fair, each one is probably fitted with a camera, but that's beside the point. And anyway, they seem to be almost looking at something else. A bad feeling runs throughout me, and I turn around just in time do avoid having a rapier rammed through my body.

Ducking to the floor, I look to see the boy from 10 standing on the path, holding his rapier towards me. But that isn't the scariest part. What is absolutely terrifying is the look on his face. His eyes are overtaken by fury, and I see no sign of the boy I saw earlier today.

"You!" He points at me, "Where is Ebony?!" I'm about to deny seeing him, when I see the rapier edging closer to my throat. This boy could quite easily kill me.

"Over there." I choke out, and point at Ebony, who's now looking at the entire scene with horror.

Seeing Ebony, the boy leaves me, and rushes towards him, letting out a cry of rage that strangely reminds me of Nick.

"Look out!" I cry to Ebony as the rapier swings towards him. Taking my words, Ebony leaps out of the way, avoiding the rapier. But I know that Ebony is weakened, and rage is powering the boy from 10. Rage is a powerful thing, second only to fear. Hopefully, this boy isn't scared, otherwise it'll be pretty hard to take him down.

Suddenly, Ebony rushes towards me, the boy from 10 right on his tail.

"Ariella, come on!" He yells, and I run forwards. I've nearly caught up to Ebony when the boy from 10 leaps at him, throwing him to the floor.

I let out a cry of horror as Ebony is caught in a neck lock, his throat exposed to me. With his other hand, the boy from 10 lifts his rapier up. Oh god, I know what he's going to do.

"Ebony, fight back!" I yell as I load my bow. The arrow flies out, and it strikes the boy from 10 in the back. But it doesn't do a thing, and the rapier is brought closer to Ebony's throat. "He's going to decapitate you!"

Upon hearing these words, fear sparks through Ebony's eyes, and he begins to thrash about, knocking the boy from 10 off of him. But before he can get back up, the boy from 10 is on him again, his face dark.

"This is for April!" He screams loudly as he swings his rapier at Ebony's throat. It cuts through his neck like a soft fruit, and Ebony's head rolls off his body, landing on the floor, blood gushing from the empty spot where his head once was.

_**BOOM!**_

With Ebony dead, the boy from 10 makes his way towards me, but not before grabbing Ebony's sword. I take this brief moment of respite to fire an arrow, and run. I glance back, and see the furious boy catching up to me, a weapon in each hand. Luckily, I can run fast for a long time, and if I couldn't, well, I'd probably be headless like Ebony.

Glancing back once more, I see how little distance is between us. Quickly, I load another arrow, and fire it. It catches the boy from 10 in the knee, and he topples to the ground in the heap, releasing a stream of expletives.

Taking advantage of the moment, I run away, down the path. I'm running faster than I ever have before, my heart pounding in my chest. I guess it's correct; fear is more powerful than rage. Looking back, the boy from 10 is already staggering to his feet. Why won't he just stay down?

I look forward, and let out a sigh of relief as I see that the exit to the forest is only about a hundred metres away. But the sound of the boy from 10's cries of determination fills the air, and I know it's not long before he catches up.

Suddenly, I roll to the ground. This action catches him off guard, and the boy from 10 trips over. He lands in another heap, and I run forwards again, sticking to the tree line. Eventually, the trees run out, and I'm forced back outside.

The setting sun has bathed everything in a golden glow. It's all extremely beautiful, but I can't afford to remain staring at the beautiful scenery; the boy from 10 will catch up to me, and kill me. I glance to the path, and notice the boy from 10 is running out from the forest. Oh no.

"You can't run forever!" I hear him yell at me, and I suddenly become aware of the fact that I'm slowly backing towards the mountain.

"Oh, trust me, I can run for a damn sight longer than you can." I call back at him, and this seems to set something off inside him. He suddenly picks up speed, and runs right towards me. Realising that I don't have enough time to load an arrow, I prepare my fist, and deliver a punch to his face as he draws closer. A fresh layer of blood flows down his already bloody face, and he howls in agony. But this time, he doesn't skip a beat, and begins to swing both the sword and rapier at me. It catches my arm, and a trail of blood begins to pour down it as I bite back my cries of pain. I won't let him see me suffer.

Quickly, I strike my leg forward, delivering a powerful kick to his crotch. He lets out a blood curling scream, and drops to the ground, losing grip of the sword. I pick it up with some effort; it's heavier than a bow, and point it at his face.

"Now, give me one reason why I shouldn't hack you to pieces right now." I snap at him, ignoring the fact that I simply don't have the strength or the skill to do it. "Well?"

"Because April told me to win, and I can't go back on that promise!" He yells extremely loudly, and brings his arm up, using the rapier to cut my arm. It's not a deep wound, but it's enough for me to drop the sword, and I instantly realise my mistake. He grabs the fallen sword, and leaps to his feet.

I leap away from the blow of the sword, and begin to frantically look around. Here, I'm completely overpowered. Which means only one thing; I need to have the higher ground on him to shoot. Looking up at the mountain trail, an idea comes to mind. I suddenly run towards him, using an arrow to slash his side. The tip of the arrow acts as a sharp blade, but the rest of it doesn't match the strength, and it snaps in half. But it's enough to distract him, and I take a sharp left turn, running up the mountain.

The stone ground is easier to move on, but the steep slope of the path makes it harder to keep up the constant pace. But I can't slow down. Not now. I look down the mountain, and see the boy from 10 running up already, seemingly having an endless supply of energy. I know I can't fight him head on, so the next best thing is to lure him away from me, then trap him. Even then, that would be a pretty big gamble.

Jumping over a loose rock, I begin to feel exposed on the mountainside. Anyone with a bow would easily be able to shoot me from here. I quickly remind myself that only I would really be able to pull that off. At least, that's what I hope. But that's not my main concern right now. I continually look back down the mountain, and see the boy from 10 running up. But I do notice that he's beginning to tire, and I may be able to use this to my advantage.

Stopping for a moment, I fire an arrow down the mountain, towards the boy from District 10. But it misses, and the arrow sails harmlessly down to the bottom, falling out of sight. I check my quiver, and notice I only have five arrows left. That is not good at all. Which means I'll have to use my shots sparingly.

The boy from 10 is catching up to me, and I turn and run once more, passing by a small cave. It would make a good shelter, but shelter isn't my priority right at this moment. The boy from 10 has slowed down significantly, and I am also beginning to feel the effects of fatigue. Combine that with the nagging hunger and the first signs of dehydration, and I'm not sure how much longer I can go on for before I keel over. But I'm still fine right now, and continue running, heading to a series of caves. I notice that five of the caves have a steady stream of smoke coming out of them.

Looking back, I realise that I've lost the boy from 10. But for how long, I don't know. I look at the caves in front of me, and an idea comes to my mind. Each of them look like tunnels, and they're bound to lead in different directions. So I can use this brief respite period to lose him entirely.

I set my sights on one of the tunnels in the middle of the row, one of the few that is smoking, and run towards it, walking inside the small space. It's hot and stuffy, but it may be the thing that saves my life. Ignoring the stench of smoke, I continue forward, until the tunnel opens up into a large room.

It's much easier to breathe in here, which allows me to take in my surroundings. It's a large stone room, with another tunnel continuing onwards on the other side of the room. But that can wait for now. Instead of continuing to move forwards, I make my way to a corner of the room, and sit down, huddled up. I'm exhausted, but at least for the moment, I'm safe.


	26. Explosion

**Afya Zahirah, 16, District 11 Tribute**

Rubbing my eyes in exhaustion, I continue to follow the path of the mountain, Maia close behind me. The sun has nearly set entirely, meaning that we'll have to find somewhere to settle down for the night soon. Also, from travelling around the mountain, I've found out two things. The first is that we can't go any higher, and the second is that each smoking tribute tunnel leads to an identical room layout to our own. They're also all probably connected to the same lake of lava. So we didn't have bad luck nearly dying in there, we had good luck in that we survived with minor injuries.

As the lush, green mountainside darkens, I begin to realise something. We haven't seen a cave entrance in quite a while, and it would be dangerous to go back down there.

"Afya," Maia says, trying badly to stifle a yawn, "Do you have any idea when we'll find somewhere to rest?"

"Not yet," I reply, "But I'm pretty sure that we're close to finding shelter." I don't know about that, but they can't be seriously making us spend tonight outside. We're down to the final five, which means that we'll most likely be drawn to the other tributes, wherever they are.

Come to think of it, I haven't seen another tribute since I met up with Maia. Which is rather odd, but has definitely worked to our advantage. After all, I'm pretty sure neither of us is up for fighting anyone at all. Returning my focus to the path ahead, I notice a faint glow a little further ahead.

"Hey, look!" Maia cries out, a weary smile on her face, "Shelter!" She runs off ahead, suddenly receiving a burst of energy, and I follow her, looking around. I don't know why, but something about this mountain is giving me a bad vibe. It's almost as if there is a sense of foreboding about the place that I haven't really noticed before. Whatever it is, I don't feel as safe here as I have done the past couple of days.

Ignoring the feeling, I follow Maia as she runs up to the light. Panting for breath, I stop just a little behind Maia. That's another thing about this mountain; the higher you get, the harder it is to breathe. Or perhaps it's exhaustion. I'm not sure.

"Hey," I say to Maia as I continue to follow her, "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Pretty sure," She replies, "Or why else would they mark it clearly for us?"

"You have a point." I say, and follow her as we approach the source of the light. As soon as we're close enough, I quickly realise it's another entrance to a trapped cave. I peer inside, and notice that a large portion of the middle of the floor has fallen, meaning that this has already been set off, thankfully. But as soon as I realise this, it can only mean one thing; another tribute has been here. As I open my mouth to warn Maia, she runs into the mouth of the cave, disappearing from sight. Fearing the worst, I follow her in.

To my surprise, the cave is actually empty. The rock is warm to touch, and the lava does an excellent job of keeping the place warm. Above us is a hollow opening in the roof, which is probably where the lava erupts from. But despite the fact that this place has obviously had a previous visitor, it gives off a sense of comfort.

As I sit down against the wall, I hear a noise. It's faint at first, and I have to strain to hear it, but as it gradually grows louder, I recognise what it is; someone's crying.

"Do you hear that?" Maia whispers to me, her eyes wide and alert.

"Yeah," I reply, "Do you think whoever it is set this place off?" Upon saying this, Maia pulls out her knife, and I pull out an arrow, prepared to shoot. But just as we prepare ourselves to fight to the death, the intruder appears.

It's a small girl, with long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She's walking slowly, and sobbing heavily. I recognise her as the girl from District 6. But why would she be in such a state? She doesn't look injured. Then I remember. Her district partner died in the late hours of last night. Suddenly, all my fear dissolves into emotion and compassion, and I watch with a heavy heart as she sits at the edge of the lake of lava, looking down at it.

"Maia," I begin, lowering my bow, "I don't think she's a threat at all." Maia nods, and puts her knife back in her belt.

"What do we do?" Maia asks, looking over at the small girl, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"We're not killers, so how's about we go over there, and try to comfort her." I reply, hoping that this is the right decision I'm making. "I mean, she is the youngest tribute in the Games."

"You're right." Maia says softly, and stands up. I do the same, and we both walk over to the small girl, sitting either side of her.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, looking at her face. It's small and delicate, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"All my fault," She replies, not taking her eyes off the lava, "I wasn't quick enough. I could have saved him." She lifts her head up to face me, before breaking down into sobs. "I want to go home!" The girl buries her face into my arms, and I comfort her, slowly stroking her head.

"There, there. It'll be fine." I say softly, like whenever I saw one of the starving children in the streets of 11 that turned up to my house in the hopes of getting something to eat. There was nothing I could do but make their desperate situation as comfortable as possible. Maia looks on at the situation awkwardly, not sure what to do.

"What's your name?" She asks the girl, and after a moment, she lifts her head up, and turns to face Maia.

"Alanna." She replies, and I remember her now. She's the young girl that scored a 7 in training. Which I found pretty impressive.

"Well, Alanna," Maia continues, "How's about you stick with us for a bit? You know, until you feel better."

"Are you sure?" Alanna asks out loud, "I don't know what to say."

"Perhaps, 'yes' would be a good place to start." Maia suggests, and this gets a laugh out of Alanna.

"Okay then." Alanna confirms, and shakes both mine and Maia's hands.

Now that we're together, I realise that I should probably know of Alanna's condition.

"So, how are you holding up for food and water?" I ask, suddenly aware that my voice echoes throughout this place.

"Oh, I'm fine." Alanna says with a weary smile, "I'm only a little sleep-deprived, is all."

"That's great." Maia says, yawning. This causes both me and Alanna to laugh, and already she fits in pretty well with our dynamic.

"Well, perhaps we should all get some rest." I suggest, and point to the corner of the room. "Come on; it'll be pretty cosy. " I get a mutual nod of agreement from both Alanna and Maia, and we all move over to the corner, and lay down, slowly dozing off.

However, as soon as I close my eyes, I hear something hit the floor near me. Panicking, my eyes shoot open, and I see the girl from District 2 standing in the mouth of the tunnel, aiming her bow at us. This isn't good.

"Guys, get up!" I yell as loud as possible to Alanna and Maia. Startled, they look around, and also see the girl from 2. Instinctively, both girls draw their knives, and I load my bow, keeping a close eye on this girl. Some part of me knows that she most likely played weakling during training, to make sure that nobody realised her true powerful potential. As I stare her down, I realise something. Out of the final five, four of us are in here. The fifth tribute is probably on their way up, and this means that this is supposed to be the dramatic climax of the Games. And I'm caught in the middle of it.

I release one of my arrows, striking the girl from 2 in the chest. She simply pulls it out, and uses it to load her own bow. My eyes widen as she fires my own arrow, hitting Maia's thigh. She screams in pain as she crumples to the floor, and both me and Alanna advance forwards, keeping the girl from 2 from getting any closer. And then, as if by some telepathic communication, we both nod, and Alanna runs forward, slashing the girl from 2 with her knife, before running to the other side of her. She quite clearly wasn't expecting this to happen. I fire another arrow, but she ducks, and instead of going for me like I anticipated, she grabs Alanna, and lifts the small girl up, causing the knife to fall to the floor. She then throws Alanna across the room, and picks up the knife.

"Alanna!" I cry, suddenly aware that I'm the only one with the ability to fight left. Maia's struggling to get the arrow out of her leg, whilst Alanna is shakily standing to her feet. I fire another arrow at the girl from 2, but she ducks to the floor, causing the arrow to fall into the lake of lava. She then rushes forwards, and slashes my leg with Alanna's knife. I don't hesitate, and swing my other leg upwards, delivering a swift kick to her jaw. An audible crack echoes out, and she lets out an unearthly scream, before jumping up, and grabbing my arms. She digs her fingernails in, and I'm forced to drop my bow. Now that I'm defenceless, she goes for my quiver, pulling it off me. It's now that I realise what she's doing.

Desperately, I punch her in the face. I catch her eye, and she shuts it, but it doesn't deter her. Whilst I'm trying to fight her, she lifts a foot, and crushes my bow. I look on in horror as it splinters and shatters in half, becoming completely useless to anyone. However, just as the Career girl goes in to stab me with the knife, she falls backwards to the floor.

"Get away from her!" I look in awe as Maia stands over the girl from 2, pulling her knife out of the girl's back.

"Maia, you saved me." I say, astonished, but not ignoring the girl from 2. She's not moving, which probably means she's unconscious. Thankfully.

"Maia, that was amazing!" I look to see that Alanna's joined us again. Besides a slight nosebleed, she's pretty much okay, "Let me get your quiver for you, Afya." She says, and bends down, reaching for the quiver. But the moment she touches it, the girl from 2 springs to life, grabbing Alanna once more. She isn't fazed when Maia and I plunge our knives into her, and keeps going towards the edge of the floor, heading for the lake of lava.

"She's going to throw Alanna into the lava!" Maia exclaims, and I nod in agreement, before we both run forwards, in a desperate attempt to stop her, and save Alanna from dying.

But by the time we get there, it's too late, and she's thrown Alanna off the edge. I stand there in horror as I hear Alanna's screams. They quickly come to a stop, but I hear no cannon. Running past the girl from 2, I peer over the edge briefly. I see Alanna laying in a heap on a small ledge just a little further down. She's unconscious, and her legs are contorted into odd positions. Theoretically, we could get her up, but not right now, under these circumstances.

Returning my attention to the fight, I see Maia running around the girl from 2, dodging the onslaught of arrows as they fly towards her. But the girl from 2 seems to have more energy than Maia, and I see my ally beginning to tire out rather quickly. I have to step in, and save her.

"Maia!" I call, and rush towards the girl from 2, with my knife in hand. I stab the knife into the girl's side, and she begins to kick me, causing me to fall. But I'm still holding onto my knife, and it causes a long, deep gash to appear in her side before it falls out. Screaming in agony, the girl from 2 cripples over in pain, and I deal a powerful kick to the back of her knees, causing her to collapse in a heap. I then walk over to the girl's temple, and I prepare to shove my knife into her brain, ending her life.

"Hey, don't you dare take my kill!" Both me and Maia turn our heads in surprise and confusion as another figure emerges from the tunnel. It's a male, with dark hair, and blue eyes, and I'm quick to recognise him as the boy from District 10. "You heard me, this is my kill!"

"What the hell?!" Maia exclaims as he barges past me, drawing a sword, and aiming it at her head. But he ignores us, and continues to prepare himself to lower it down.

"This is for April, Magnum, and all the other tributes that have been killed as a result of you!" I back away quickly as he begins to lower it. But just as he does so, everything begins to vibrate as a deep rumbling causes everything to shake.

The force of the shaking causes me, Maia, and the boy from 10 to be all thrown to the ground. As it increases in intensity, and I notice the floor isn't collapsing, I realise that this isn't normal. Shakily, I stand to my feet, and notice that Maia has done the same.

"We have to get out of here!" She yells over the sound of the entire mountain shaking, and I shoot her a quizzical look.

"Why?!" I yell back, and she motions to the edge of the floor. I carefully make my way over, and gape in horror at what I see. The lake of lava is rising. And fast.

"Come on!" Maia yells, but I can't take my eyes off of the ledge. Alanna's still there, oblivious to her imminent demise.

"But we can't just leave Alanna!" I shout, "She doesn't deserve a death like this!"

"Afya, she won't even know she's dying!" Maia shouts back as I see a segment of the roof land on the boy from 10's head, knocking him out, and causing a thin trail of blood to pour from the site of the impact, rendering him as unconscious as everyone else in the room besides me and Maia. Remorsefully, I tear myself away from the edge, and begin to run towards the exit, Maia right behind me. We run across the room, dodging falling debris, and finally reach the exit. Maia runs out first, and I follow her immediately, quickly escaping the room.

As soon as we're outside, an ear-shattering explosion sounds out, and everything begins to rumble at an increased magnitude. I look to the sky, and scream in horror as a massive orange stream of molten rock is propelled into the sky, and judging from our position, we're right in the range of where it'll fall down.

"Run!" I scream, and Maia nods in confirmation, as we begin to sprint at full speed down the shaking hillside, the only source of light being the contents of the volcano that are being spewed out. I look back behind me, and see a molten river flowing towards us remarkably quickly. I stand there in a daze, and don't move until Maia tackles me to the ground, causing us to roll down the steep slope of the mountain.

Everything is a disorienting blur as we roll faster, eventually crashing into a slight wall of rock. It takes a moment, but I'm quickly on my feet, and helping Maia up as we look around. Luckily, our location allows for the stream to pass us by, but more is still exploding from the volcano, and a new realisation hits me. There is every chance we are going to die, but moving would be more suicidal than remaining where we are.

After what seems like forever, the constant spew of volcanic content ceases to exist, and instead, a soft glow emits from the flowing streams. This causes me to realise that the worst of the danger is over.

"Hey, Afya," Maia says, her voice shaky, "That was a close call, but at least we-"

_**BOOM!**_

_**BOOM!  
**_

_**BOOM!**_

Three cannons go off in quick succession, and I'm left staring at Maia as a horrific realisation dawns on me.

"Those were the other three tributes, weren't they?" I ask, my voice hollow. Maia nods meekly, and her face begins to go pale.

"We're the final two tributes left." She says, her eyes wide.

"So we are," I reply, chills running throughout every section of my body. I know what we have to do, yet I really hope it doesn't have to happen, "The two of us, the final ones remaining."

"Yeah," Maia says, "Now what?" I hold my knife in my hand as Maia asks this question.

But she doesn't get an answer, and the next thing I know, the knife isn't in my hand any more. Instead, it's flying towards Maia's skull.


	27. Torn Apart

**Maia Kentner, 16, District 5 Tribute**

I stand there, horrified, as the knife digs into my flesh. I can feel the blood pouring down my face, but I'm in too much of a state of shock to do anything. We're the final two. Me and Afya. The last remaining tributes in the arena. This fact only came to light less than two minutes ago, but already, Afya's turned on me.

"Afya, what was that for?!" I screech, ignoring the blinding pain as the knife falls to the ground. Considering the situation, it would probably be best if I pick it up, but I'm paralysed by the shock of all this.

"Look, Maia," Afya says coldly as she retrieves her knife, "I don't know about you, but I want to come home. And we both know the only way home is to kill the other. Please don't take this personally." As she finishes that statement, she rushes at me with the knife, and I turn and run, tears flowing down my face.

This can't be happening; we're allies. And close allies like that. I glance behind me, and see that Afya's catching up with me with remarkable ease.

"No!" I cry as she attempts to plunge the knife into my back. But before I am caught by the knife, I throw myself to the floor, barely avoiding rolling down the mountainside to my certain doom. I quickly scramble to my feet desperately, and sprint forwards once more, Afya right behind me. I can't keep running forever, though, and looking at the continually increasing amount of flowing rivers of molten rock that run around like veins on the mountainside, I won't have many places to run to.

Suddenly, a brassy sound explodes throughout the arena, and I duck to the floor in terror, thinking it's the volcano exploding once more. But a melody echoes out, and an eerie light shines down on us, contrasting from the glow of the rivers. It's the anthem of Panem, and I turn to look up to the sky. It seems that Afya's doing the same, which makes me safe for the moment, but I gape in horror at the amount of tributes that perished today.

Both from 1, both from 2, the girl from 3, the boy from 4, both from 6, the boy from 10, and the girl from 12. Eleven. Eleven of us have died today. That's more than the bloodbath itself, and by sunrise, a twelfth face will join them. But I don't know which face will be joining them. I don't want it to be me, but the thought of Afya dying does not sit well with me.

I hear the sound of footsteps rustling the grass, and turn to see Afya running towards me. I don't have the time to escape from her grasp, and I'm thrown to the ground. But alongside my fear, a crushing feeling in my heart is also prominent. She betrayed me.

"We were friends!" I yell at Afya as she pulls out her knife, and begins to press it against my throat. Wasting no time, I headbutt her, and she recoils in pain, rolling off me. I quickly climb to my feet, looking at Afya. But I feel immense guilt from doing this to her, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from apologising. Instead, I remorsefully look away, and run down the mountainside, towards the trail.

As the soft grass becomes hard stone, I begin to realise something that I never in a million years thought that I would think of. I have a huge chance of coming home. But at the same time, there is no way that I could ever kill an ally. It's just wrong, and I don't think I would be able to live with the guilt.

Taking one last look at the mountainside, I notice Afya running down. My eyes widen in horror, and I begin to run down the trail, extremely thankful that she doesn't have her bow any more. If she had that, I would have been dead the moment the last three cannons sounded out. Picking up my pace, I run down the path faster, when I notice a corner. Quickly, I dart around it, and to my surprise, find a small cave.

I leap inside the small cave, and curl up at the back as Afya walks past it. She didn't notice me. I let out a sigh of relief, but as soon as I do, she's at the mouth of the cave. She runs in, and pushes me to the back wall, tears staining her face. I struggle to pull out my knife, but when I finally get it out, I slash it across her arm. She screams in pain, and staggers backwards, and she draws her own knife, swinging like a maniac as she tries to get me. I nearly get out of the cave when she slashes the knife across my back, causing me to fall to the floor in agony. I can actually feel the blood pouring from the wound.

But I waste no time in rolling to the side, and using the wall of the cave to climb to my feet. The enclosed nature of this space makes it a virtual impossibility to just walk out, which means the only way to escape is to take Afya down, but a deep reluctance is stopping me from going all out on the offensive. I slowly edge around the cave, Afya watching my every move closely. However, this gives me an idea. It's a risky one, but it might allow me to get out of here alive.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask, louder than usual. This catches Afya off guard; she hasn't seen me being deceptive before.

"You know exactly why, Maia." She replies, her knife still aimed at me. I take another step around the cave, and she inches closer.

"No need to do that," I say as I continue to edge towards the exit, "What am I exactly going to do? Wander closer to you?" Afya opens her mouth to reply, but no words come out.

"Well, I can't have you running." She says, pointing her knife in the direction that she assumes I'll go to.

Suddenly, I run to my right, and draw my knife. Afya stares in horror as I leap onto her, and dig my knife deep into her stomach, causing her to cripple over in pain. I leap up, and back into the corner of the cave as Afya charges at me, her knife in hand. But she hasn't noticed that the exit to the cave is now wide open.

I run forwards, and slash Afya's arm as I run out of the cave, and down the path. This part of the mountain doesn't have the lava to light it up, meaning that it takes a while for my eyes to adjust. I can only hope the same is happening to Afya. I lean against the wall of the mountain, and draw my knife. Fear is coursing through my veins, causing my heart to beat rapidly in my chest. I clutch the knife harder as the sound of panting fills the air, alongside footsteps. I blink a few times, and notice the figure of Afya running at me.

My eyes widen as she leaps at the wall, digging her knife into the wall, missing me entirely, but she knows where I am.

"That was a dirty trick, you know." She says to me as she walks towards me. I back away slowly, inching towards the wall of the mountain again; I can't have her throwing me off the edge. "I didn't see it coming." She doesn't sound like herself at all; her voice is hollow, lacking the compassion and emotion that I have grown to associate with Afya.

"Then it worked." I reply, holding my knife close. At any moment, she could attack me. I am still slowly backing down the mountain, and keeping my eyes on Afya. But when I look at her again, she does something I didn't expect to happen.

She runs straight at me, letting out a war cry, knocking me to the ground. I look up in terror as she pins me down.

"Thought you could run?" She says, breathing heavily, "Well, I'm not that stupid, Maia. Think before you do such things. You got lucky back at the cave, and that's it." Everything about Afya is now terrifying me, and I realise that she's cracked under the stress of having to kill an ally. Which hopefully means the Afya I grew close to died with the cannons. Knowing this makes it easier to attempt to kill her.

"Are you sure about that?" I taunt back at her, "I think you're just peeved off that I had the upper hand for a moment." This sparks fury in her eyes, and she loosens her grip on me to get the knife. Perfect.

Taking advantage of the lack of grip, I suddenly roll to my side, causing Afya to smash into the wall. Once she's off me, I climb to my feet, and back off down the path, before sprinting at full speed.

"Get back here!" I hear her cry, but I don't stop. I look back, and notice her running at me, faster than before. I draw my knife, and swing it at her as she runs at me. The force of the blow causes it to sink into her arm deeper than normal, and I struggle to pull it out. Just as I do, Afya slashes her knife across my stomach, causing a searing pain. But I try to ignore it, and back off into the wall. From here, I can notice something in the distance. Near the Cornucopia, there seems to be a massive raging fire, and from the looks of things, it's spreading to the rest of the forest. That would probably result in a fire that would put the Career-caused one to shame.

Looking back at Afya, I duck as she runs at me with the knife. As I sink down, I swing my leg out, kicking her, and tripping her. She falls to the ground with a cry of pain, and I stand over her, knife in hand. It would be so easy right now. Just one strike, and she'd be dead. But I can't bring myself to do it.

This brief hesitation is enough time for Afya to leap to her feet again, and nearly knock me down. I prepare to fight back, but she rushes at me quicker than she has been. Before I can even react, she's plunged her knife into my chest. It hasn't yet pierced my heart, but she keeps pressing harder. I can't let her kill me.

With a cry of determination, I lift my knife up, and slash it across her shoulder, causing the weapon to be stained with even more blood. It does the trick, and she pulls the knife out of me, causing blood to spurt out of my chest for a moment, before it stops. Not skipping a beat, I lunge at Afya, and bring my knife up to her face. The blade makes contact with her eye, and after enough pressure, a sickening squelch sounds out, and I see blood and other fluids running down her face from the hollow cavity where her eye was.

But instead of doubling over in agony, like I expected her to, Afya continues to stand, probably driven by sheer adrenaline. She lifts her own knife up, and even though she's half blind, stabs my shoulder. She then begins to drag it down the length of her arm, but before she can get to any major arteries, I punch her nose. Acting out of reflex, Afya recoils, but I don't let up this time, and continue to stab her repeatedly with my knife. Eventually, she collapses, and I look on in horror as a pool of blood pours from her wounds. But I don't stay, and run further down the trail, stopping after I've leapt down a ledge.

As I lean against the ledge, I become aware of the agonising pain all throughout my body. But it would be a futile exercise to try and patch myself up; before the night is over, we will have a victor. It's inevitable, and every fibre of my being wants it to be me that gets out of here. But to do that, I'll have to defeat Afya somehow. And I know that I won't be able to do that during straight forward combat. So how?

The smell of smoke suddenly reaches my nose, and I realise something about it straight away. It smells different to the smoke that was in the tunnels. I turn to look at the forest, and notice something. The fire at the Cornucopia has spread to it. As I look at the slowly burning forest, an idea comes to me. I can use this to take out Afya.

Just as I think of this, I hear the sound of running. and realise that Afya must be back up now. I run down the path a little further, and look back as Afya leaps over the ledge, heading right for me. I can't stay around and fight her now; I need as much strength as possible to lead her down the mountain, and to the burning forest. The fire is now casting an eerie glow on the mountainside, illuminating everything with a flickering orange. It also casts massive shadows, and I notice a shadow rushing towards me. Afya.

I duck to the ground, tripping Afya up, and climb to my feet again, running faster down the hill. I don't look back this time, since the only thing that really matters right now is getting Afya down the mountain, and to the forest. However, I begin to notice that Afya's running is getting louder, and I realise that this must mean that she's catching up.

Suddenly, extreme pain courses through my leg, and I collapse to the floor. I look up, and see Afya standing over me, her knife digging into my thigh. I grab my own knife, and dig it quickly into her foot. She screams in pain, but I don't stop, and continue to dig harder and harder. However, she then lifts her other foot, and kicks my face.

I'm temporarily blinded by the pain for a moment, and when I regain my vision, the first thing I'm aware of is a stream of blood flowing down my face coming from my nose. I don't even attempt to wipe it away, and I look at Afya. She's now holding my arm in one hand, and her knife in the other. I don't quite understand what she's doing until she begins to dig it into my wrist.

"Stop!" I shriek as she continues to press into my wrist. Blood begins to spurt uncontrollably, and after a few seconds, my left hand has been completely severed. I scream and wail in agony as copious amounts of blood shoot from the maimed stub. I begin to feel light headed, and I soon realise that I am slowly bleeding to death.

With a burst of energy, I kick Afya, knocking her off me, and I stand slowly to my feet. As I stand here, I come to the sudden realisation that it all ends here. The Gamemakers set up the fire, and Afya cutting of my hand helped to make this the final stage for the Games. The closing curtain, so to speak.

"You want a final battle?" I ask her as I hold my knife with my only hand, "Then it's a final battle you'll get."

"You know," Afya says as she also draws her knife, "I always had a hunch you were a warrior at heart. And this just proves it."

"I guess so," I reply, suddenly letting out a laugh at the absurd nature of this conversation. Less than two minutes ago, we were fighting to the death. And now we're talking like none of this ever happened, like we haven't just been subjected to more death in the past four days than people have in their entire lives. I know that everyone's forced to watch the Hunger Games, but it's more like seeing a horror movie than anything else. Sure, it might be someone you know from your district, but the other twenty two kids pretty much mean nothing to you at all.

"And," Afya continues, "I am truly grateful that you will be my final opponent." The way she says that catches me off guard. Her voice breaks as she speaks, and tears begin to roll down her eyes. It might be me going delirious from the blood loss, but I truly think Afya is upset about all this.

It's in this moment that I realise the one thing I never wanted to happen happened; the Afya I've grown close to has resurfaced. I feel my own tears threatening to spill out, and a strange urge to be sick fills me as we look at each other. No matter what has just happened, we're still close friends. Afya takes a step towards me, and wraps her arms around me. I flinch in response, but notice that her knife is on the ground. Feeling guilty, I drop my own knife, and return the affection, despite my damaged state.

"I'm so sorry about trying to kill you." I say softly to Afya as the tears spill from my eyes, and I take in Afya's warmth. The lack of blood is making me go cold, and I realise I don't have much time left. But as a final act, I can guarantee Afya's survival.

"But still, only one of us can make it out alive." Afya says weakly, before looking at me with her one eye, "And I want it to be you."

I can't say anything at this moment, or do anything but cry. Tears and sobs overtake me, and I fall back against the wall, overcome by raw emotion. We both want the other to come home, and we both know it.

"What do we do?" I ask Afya, as I begin to find it hard to stand. A pool of blood is now covering the ground, some mine, some Afya's. Suddenly, she runs up to me, and gives me a light kiss on the forehead.

"You stay here," Afya says, walking towards the edge of the cliff. I try to move, to stop her, but my body is weakened from the fight and blood loss to do anything. "Thank you, for making my last few days alive truly special." And then, she jumps off the cliff.

"Afya, no!" I scream as I scramble to the edge. I collapse to my knees, and watch as she falls towards the burning ground below. It's like in slow motion, and I can see her face clearly as she shuts her eyes, and a smile grows on her face; she's embracing death. I let out one last sob as she disappears into the burning foliage, and vanishes from sight forever.

_**BOOM!**_

I'm shaking as I realise I'm the last tribute left alive. I crawl up to the edge of the wall, and curl up into the fetal position as I watch the charred remains of Afya be lifted up into the sky by the hovercraft. As soon as the hovercraft disappears, a booming fanfare echoes out, and I see my face appear in the sky.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!" I hear the loud voice of the announcer of the Games, Claudius Templesmith, echo throughout the silent arena, "Congratulations to Maia Kentner of District Five for a marvellous victory, and becoming the victor of the sixty eighth annual Hunger Games!" I begin to cry again as the sound of the Capitol citizens cheering fills the melancholy silence. Afya's dead. Alanna's dead. Scott's dead. Everyone that went into this arena is dead. Everyone except me.

"Why?!" I cry out to the sky, and as if in some sort of response, the hovercraft appears above me. I feel extremely weak, and lay down, growing colder. A beam of light shines down from it, and I'm vaguely aware of being lifted up. And then, as I'm slowly raised into the air, everything goes black.


End file.
